Orange Peel Fungus

Aleuria aurantia – Edible

Forest clearings, forest edges, roadsides, forest tracks, ditches. Summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies 1-5 (10) cm across, shaped like a flat-bottomed saucer; old ones develop irregularly distorted margins; orange, orange-red, the underside paler, whitish, smooth or slightly granular. Flesh pale orange, thin, very brittle, without a particular smell or taste. Characteristic features: fairly large orange mushrooms, visible from afar. Grows most often in larger or smaller groups on sandy, humus-rich and even clayey soil, sometimes also among grasses. Edible, but more valuable as a beautiful, decorative mushroom. Common; medical scientists are interested in its properties.