Armillaria solidipes — Honey mushroom
Honey mushrooms,2 photograph by Ludovic Le Renard
Honey mushrooms9.
Odour: Not distinctive.
Cap: 5–12 cm in diameter, when young rounded conical with a margin that is rolled inwards. With age the cap expands and becomes flat or keeps a low, broad central umbo. The colour is pale to very pale pinkish brown, and it becomes paler when the cap dries out. Small, uplifted dark-brown to yellow scales are set on the cap centre. Cap margins are radially grooved.
Gills: Moderately crowded, and broadly attached to the stem. Each gill typically continues down the stem as a decurrent tooth. The colour is initially white, darkening with age.
Stem: 5–15 cm long x 0.7–1.5 cm wide, widest at the base. When young, light coloured especially at the top; lower down with colours as on the cap (pink-brown, light brown). With some fibrils on the stems.
Ring or veil: A white band positioned towards the top on the stem. Often with a brown edge.
Cup: None.
Spores: 7–10 x 5–7 µm, smooth and white.
Habitat: In big clusters, most often on conifer wood, growing on trunks, logs, or on buried roots; saprotrophs or root pathogens3.
Geographic range1: Western North America and possibly also in eastern North America and Europe. Accurate definition of its geographical range requires greater clarity about delimitation of this species.
The name Armillaria ostoyae has been used for this species but some evidence6 suggests that the North American name A. solidipes3 may more accurately be applied to a common species in the Pacific northwest and BC. Several other species of Honey mushrooms can be found in the Pacific northwest. All are rather variable and their cap colours range from light yellowish to middle pinkish to orange brown. They grow often in big clusters on dead wood and at the base of trees, but solitary mushrooms on soil are frequent too. Recognizing a honey mushroom is not always easy and the species are hard to tell apart. In Armillaria solidipes the base of the stem typically widens slightly before ending abruptly. The western variant of Armillaria mellea is very similar, also grows in clusters, but the base of the stem tapers to a point, not widened.
Treatment: Contact your regional Poison Control Centre if you or someone you know is ill after eating honey mushrooms. Poison centres provide free, expert medical advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If possible, save the mushrooms or some of the leftover food containing the mushrooms to help confirm identification.
Poison Control:
British Columbia: 604-682-5050 or 1-800-567-8911.
United States (WA, OR, ID): 1-800-222-1222.