Spectacular Rustgill

Gymnopilus junonius

On rotten deciduous wood, especially birch, black alder. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies large. Cap 5-15 cm across, massive, fleshy, flattened when mature, sometimes even depressed, surface slightly velvety, scaly, yellowish-orange, yellowish-brown. Gills yellowish, later ochre-yellow, reddish-brown, crowded, thick, adnexed. Stem 5-15 (20)x1-3 (4) cm, of even thickness near the gills, thickened in the middle, tapering at the base, with a broad, yellow, membranous ring. Flesh thick, firm, sulphur-yellow, with a persistent smell, bitter. Characteristic features: stem with a conspicuous ring, spores granular. Grows several fruiting bodies together, rarely in groups, on deciduous windfalls, stumps and snags. Poisonous, rare. Has hallucinogenic properties. Do not confuse it with honey fungi