Deadly galerina vs honey mushroom
- Deadly Galerina
Spore prints differ: honey mushrooms print white, the deadly galerina prints rusty brown. Galerina is also smaller, with a smooth brown cap.
Honey mushroom vs ringless honey mushroom: how to tell them apart
Quick answer
The honey mushroom has a white, cottony to membranous ring near the top of the stem; the ringless honey mushroom, as its name says, has no ring or ring zone at any age. Both drop a white spore print and grow in fused clusters on hardwood; the deadly galerina prints rusty brown.
Side by side
The tell for each
Edible when well cooked
The tellDense clusters of honey-colored caps on wood, with a ring on the stem and a white spore print.
Edible when well cooked
The tellLarge clusters of dry, honey-brown caps at the base of hardwoods, with no ring on the stem and a white spore print.
How they differ
| Feature | Honey Mushroom | Ringless Honey Mushroom |
|---|---|---|
| Ring | Honey MushroomWhite, cottony to membranous ring near the top of the stem. | Ringless Honey MushroomNone at any age. |
| Cap surface | Honey MushroomSlightly sticky when wet, with small dark hairs at the center. | Ringless Honey MushroomDry, with small darker scales at the center. |
| Cap color | Honey MushroomHoney-yellow to yellow-brown. | Ringless Honey MushroomDull tawny brown to honey-yellow. |
| Spore print | Honey MushroomWhite. | Ringless Honey MushroomWhite. |
| Range | Honey MushroomEast of the Great Plains and along the Pacific Coast, with related species elsewhere. | Ringless Honey MushroomEastern North America, from about the Great Lakes south, west to Texas and Oklahoma. |
FAQ
Common questions
Is the ringless honey mushroom a honey mushroom?
It is a close relative in the same family. Long called Armillaria tabescens, the North American species was named Desarmillaria caespitosa in 2021, separate from the European D. tabescens. MushroomExpert.com calls it the most easily identified North American Armillaria, since it has no ring or ring zone on its stem.
What looks like a ringless honey mushroom?
The jack-o'-lantern, which is also ringless and clustered at the base of trees but bright orange with orange flesh, and the deadly galerina, which is smaller with a ring and a rusty brown spore print.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Armillaria mellea
MushroomExpert.com
- Armillaria tabescens (ringless honey mushroom)
MushroomExpert.com
- Honey Mushroom
Missouri Department of Conservation
- Ringless Honey Mushroom
Missouri Department of Conservation
Keep checking
Read both pages in full
- More on the honey mushroom
- More on the ringless honey mushroom
- Not sure it is either? Narrow it down with the identification key
This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.
More comparisons
Honey mushroom vs jack-o'-lantern
- Toxic: Jack-o'-Lantern
Honey mushrooms have a ring, white gills and white flesh. Jack-o'-lanterns have no ring, sharp orange gills and orange flesh.
Deadly galerina vs ringless honey mushroom
- Deadly Galerina
The ringless honey mushroom has no ring and prints white. The deadly galerina has a thin ring, prints rusty brown and is much smaller.
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