Stinking Earthfan

Thelephora palmata

Coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests, parks. Spring, summer, autumn (winter).

Fruiting bodies small, soft, 2-5 cm wide and tall, usually several fused together to form a rosette, also growing singly. Cap fibrous-scaly, hairy, from pale to dark brown, darkening to black when old, with paler margins. Hymenophore smooth, slightly warty, greyish-brown. Grows in larger or smaller groups in forests, from early spring to late autumn, sometimes even in winter, on fallen leaves, needles, twigs and wood chips. Especially dangerous when it establishes itself in tree nurseries, causing great losses to pine plantations. Common. Inedible.