Honey Fungus

Armillaria mellea

Forests, parks, gardens. Summer (rarely), autumn.

Fruiting bodies medium-sized. Cap 3-8 cm, but even up to 12 cm across, yellowish-brown, ochre-brown, greenish-brown, honey-coloured with blackish-brownish scales. Young gills whitish, cream, later brownish-brown; when young they are covered with a white, yellowish membrane. Stem 3-12x0.3-2 cm, yellow near the cap, yellowish-brown lower down, with a yellowish-brown, sometimes falling-off ring, dirty brown at the base. Flesh whitish, yellowish, thin, with a pleasant smell and taste. Characteristic features: cap with blackish-brownish scales, stem with a yellow, yellowish-brown ring. Grows on trunks of living and dead trees, snags, stumps, roots, most often in large groups. Edible, valuable, loved and collected by mushroom pickers.