Edible, with conditions
Honey mushroom
Armillaria mellea and the Armillaria complex
The character that does the work
Dense clusters on hardwood, white spore print, dark hairs at the cap centre.
The specimen sheet, in examination order
01Cap
3 to 15 cm, honey yellow to tawny brown, usually with fine dark hairs or scales concentrated at the centre.
02Underside
Attached to slightly decurrent gills, whitish then flushing pinkish-brown with age.
03Stem, and the base
Fibrous and tough, often with a ring, and paler above than below. Frequently fused in dense clumps at the base.
04Flesh, cut
White, thin in the cap and stringy in the stem.
05Spore print
White to cream
White or cream, and this is the test that separates it from the deadly galerina. A rusty print means you have the wrong mushroom.
How to take one06Where it grows
Dense clusters at the base of living or dead hardwoods, on stumps and over buried roots. It is a virulent tree parasite, and a single genetic individual in Oregon covers several square miles.
When to look
Typically Aug to Dec in the northern hemisphere. Fruiting swings by weeks with rainfall and by a month or more with latitude, so this is when to look rather than when it will be there.
Northern hemisphere, as a complex of species.
What is worth knowing about it
Widely eaten and genuinely worthwhile, with two hard conditions. It must be cooked thoroughly, because it makes a fair number of people ill when undercooked. And it must be spore-printed every time, because the deadly galerina fruits on wood at the same season and looks like a small honey mushroom. Discard the stems; they are string.
Confused with
- Deadly galerina
- Sulphur tuft
- Sheathed woodtuft
In the kitchen
Boil or steam for several minutes, discard that water, then fry. This is one of the few cases where the old advice to parboil is worth following. Try a small amount the first time.
The techniques, and why they workThis page tells you what to check. It does not tell you the mushroom in your hand is that species, and it cannot. If you are not certain, do not eat it. If you have already eaten something and feel unwell, contact a poison centre and keep an uncooked specimen.
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