Species details
Sheathed woodtuft
Kuehneromyces mutabilis
Extra caution required
Photo: Dendrofil · CC0 · Photo source · License
Description
A brown clustered wood-growing mushroom with a hygrophanous two-toned cap and a ring on the stem.
Identification features
Below the ring the stem is scaly and darker. The deadly funeral bell is extremely similar, so the app does not treat this species as safe for unaided collecting.
Identification checklist
It grows in dense tufts on broadleaf wood. The wet cap is cinnamon-brown and two-toned; as it dries it pales from the centre while the margin remains darker. Gills become cinnamon-brown. The stem is pale and smooth above the ring, but dark, fibrous, and scaly below.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 4–7 cm, hygrophanous; when moist yellow to cinnamon-brown with a distinctly darker margin, fading from the centre as it dries.
- Hymenophore
- Gills are pale at first, becoming cinnamon-brown as the spores mature.
- Stem
- 5–10 cm tall and about 0.4–0.6 cm thick, with a ring; brownish-scaly below the ring and darker toward the base.
- Flesh
- Pale and thin in the cap; the stem is tougher and darker, especially toward the base.
- Smell
- Mild mushroom-like smell.
- Spore print
- Cinnamon to brown.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 4–7 cm
- Stem height
- 5–10 cm
- Stem diameter
- 0,4–0,6 cm
Habitat
In dense clusters on stumps and dead hardwood.
Fruiting period
April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Saprotrophic
- Substrate
- Dead wood, Stumps
- Notes
- A saprotroph growing in dense clusters on stumps and dead wood, most often hardwood.
Distribution
- Notes
- A widespread European wood-inhabiting species that can fruit through much of the year when conditions are moist.
How to separate similar species
Deadly funeral bell can grow on the same stump and may sometimes require microscopy for reliable separation. Its visible characters are very variable, so a two-toned cap or ring is not enough.
Similar species
- Funeral bell (Galerina marginata) DANGEROUS
Funeral bell is deadly poisonous and can look very similar macroscopically. Separation by cap colour alone is unsafe; expert identification is needed when in doubt.
Interesting facts
Did you know? Hygrophanous caps can change colour markedly over a short time as the surface dries.