Species details
Conifer tuft
Hypholoma capnoides
Conditional / expert preparation
Photo: Doug Murphy · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A clustered yellow to orange-brown wood-growing mushroom on conifers, with characteristically grey mature gills that are never greenish.
Identification features
The cap is smooth, yellowish to reddish ochre and often darker centrally. Gills start almost white and become smoky grey. The stem is slender, yellowish and browner toward the base; there is no persistent ring.
Identification checklist
Check that it grows on conifer wood and examine the gills: mature gills should be smoky grey without green-yellow tones. Clustered growth, a yellowish stem and dark purplish-brown spores are also important.
Detailed features
- Cap
- A clustered yellow to orange-brown wood-growing mushroom on conifers, with characteristically grey mature gills that are not greenish.
- Hymenophore
- Gills start almost white and become smoky grey.
- Stem
- The stem is slender, yellowish and browner toward the base; there is no persistent ring.
- Flesh
- White, firmer and more fibrous in the stem.
- Smell
- Pleasant, mild smell.
- Spore print
- Dark purplish-brown.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 5–8 cm
- Stem height
- 5–8 cm
- Stem diameter
- 0,4–0,6 cm
Habitat
Saprotrophic in large clusters on stumps and dead conifer wood, especially spruce and pine; from spring to late autumn.
Fruiting period
March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Saprotrophic
- Host trees
- Spruce (Picea), Pine (Pinus)
- Substrate
- Stumps, Dead wood
- Notes
- Saprotrophic species. Saprotrophic in large clusters on stumps and dead conifer wood, especially spruce and pine; from spring to late autumn.
How to separate similar species
Sulphur tuft is poisonous and has yellow-green to olive gills. Deadly funeral bell can also grow on wood but has brown spores and a different ring. Identification must include the underside.
Similar species
- Sulphur tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) DANGEROUS
H. fasciculare is more sulphur-yellow and develops greenish to olive gills; H. capnoides has smoky-grey gills without a green tint.
- Brick cap (Hypholoma lateritium)
- Funeral bell (Galerina marginata) DANGEROUS
G. marginata is a deadly wood-growing agaric with a rusty-brown spore print and often a stem ring; clustered wood fungi require particular caution.
Interesting facts
Did you know? Smoky-grey gills without a green tint and growth on conifer wood are key clues among similar Hypholoma species.