Deadly
Deadly Galerina
Galerina marginata
Galerina is much smaller, with a smooth brown cap, a thin ring on the stem, and a rusty brown spore print. It contains amatoxins, the same liver toxins as the death cap.
Ringless Honey Mushroom
Desarmillaria caespitosa
Edible when well cooked
Also called ringless honey fungus, armillaria tabescens, desarmillaria tabescens.
The ringless honey mushroom grows in big clusters at the base of oaks and on stumps and buried roots, often in lawns. Long called Armillaria tabescens, it looks like the honey mushroom without a ring and is regularly confused with the jack-o'-lantern, which fruits in the same places.
The tell
Large clusters of dry, honey-brown caps at the base of hardwoods, with no ring on the stem and a white spore print.
Field marks
What to look at
Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.
- Cap
- Convex, flattening with age, 1 to 4 inches across. Dry, honey yellow to tan or brownish, with small darker scales concentrated at the center.
- Underside
- Gills attached or running slightly down the stem, fairly close. Whitish at first, becoming pinkish to brownish with age.
- Stem
- Long, tough and fibrous, tapering toward the base, with many stems fused together in a cluster. No ring at any age. Whitish above, brownish below.
- Flesh
- Whitish to pale brown, thin in the cap and tough in the stem. Smell mild.
- Spore print
- White.
- Size
- Cap 1 to 4 inches (3 to 10 cm); stem 3 to 8 inches (8 to 20 cm) tall.
Where and when
Where and when it grows
- Habitat
- At the base of living and dead hardwoods, especially oaks, on stumps, and from buried roots in lawns and yards where trees once stood. It is a root parasite as well as a decomposer.
- Grows on
- Wood: roots, stumps and the bases of hardwood trees.
- Season
- Late summer through fall.
- Range
- Eastern North America, from about the Great Lakes south, west to Texas and Oklahoma.
Lookalikes
What the ringless honey mushroom gets confused with
Each card says how to tell the two apart.
Toxic lookalikeJack-o'-Lantern
Omphalotus illudens
Also ringless and clustered at the base of trees, but bright orange throughout, with orange flesh and sharp-edged orange gills that run down the stem. It causes severe vomiting and diarrhea.
Toxic lookalikeSulphur Tuft
Hypholoma fasciculare
Sulphur tuft has bright sulfur-yellow caps, greenish-yellow gills that turn purple-brown, a purple-brown spore print, and bitter flesh.
Edible when well cookedHoney Mushroom
Armillaria mellea
The honey mushroom has the same white spore print but carries a ring near the top of the stem, and its cap is often slightly sticky rather than dry.
Edibility
What the field guides say
Edible when well cooked
Field guides list the ringless honey mushroom as edible when thoroughly cooked. As with the honey mushroom, guides record gastrointestinal upset when it is eaten raw or undercooked, and in some people even after cooking. The jack-o'-lantern, a frequent confusion, causes severe gastrointestinal poisoning.
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.
FAQ
Questions about the ringless honey mushroom
Is the ringless honey mushroom edible?
Field guides list it as edible when thoroughly cooked. Raw or undercooked specimens cause stomach upset, and some people react even when it is well cooked.
What is the difference between honey mushroom and ringless honey mushroom?
The ringless honey mushroom never has a ring on its stem, while the honey mushroom has a ring near the top. The ringless species also has a drier cap and grows from about the Great Lakes south, often at the base of oaks.
How do you tell ringless honey mushroom from jack-o'-lantern?
Both are ringless and grow in clusters at tree bases. The jack-o'-lantern is bright orange throughout, including the flesh and gills, while the ringless honey mushroom has a honey-brown cap, whitish to pinkish gills and pale flesh.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Armillaria tabescens
MushroomExpert.com
- Desarmillaria tabescens
Fungi Growing on Wood, Gary Emberger (MushroomExpert.com)
- Ringless Honey Mushroom
Missouri Department of Conservation
- Desarmillaria caespitosa
Index Fungorum
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