Spruce Cone Cap

Strobilurus esculentus

On spruce cones. Spring.

Small mushrooms. Cap 1-2 cm across, rarely larger (3-4 cm), round, matt, sometimes wrinkled, thin, greyish-brown, pinkish-brown, leather-brown. Gills grey, narrow, crowded, adnate. Stem long, about 10 cm above ground and 3-7 cm in the soil, in the litter, on a cone or growing through it. Characteristic features: very tough, appears very early in spring, as soon as the snow has melted. Grows singly. Small, but pleasant in taste, good for flavouring soups. A mushroom highly valued by the Germans. A harbinger of spring. Very similar is Strobilurus stephanocystis (S. stephanocystis), which grows at the same time but on pine cones. Edible, common.