Pholiota squarrosoides (Pk.) Sacc. Cap 2.5-10cm across, obtusely convex with an umbo becoming flat; whitish becoming cinnamon with down-curved tawny scales scattered near the margin, clustered over the disc; sticky beneath the dry scales, veil remnants often hanging from the margin. Gills adnate becoming sharply adnexed, close to crowded, moderately broad; whitish, changing slowly to rust-brown as spores mature. Stem 50-150 x 5-15mm, stuffed or solid; whitish at the top, pale buff below the ring, with coarse down-curving ochre-tawny scales, sometimes staining rusty brown near the base; silky above the pale, fibrous, often evanescent ring. Flesh thick, pliant; whitish. Odor not distinctive. Taste not distinctive. Spores broadly ellipsoid, smooth, pore at apex not evident, 4-5.5 x 3-3.5µ. Deposit brown. Pleurocystidia abundant. Habitat singly or in dense clusters on deciduous trees such as beech, birch, maple, and alder. Common. Found widely distributed throughout much of North America. Season August-October. Said to be edible, but I would avoid. |