Honey fungus
Armillaria spp.
mushroom
⚠️ Toxic look-alike
Never eat this mushroom unless you are certain it is not its toxic look-alike.
The funeral bell, which also grows in clusters on dead wood, contains the same toxins as the death cap and kills: its first signs appear only 6 to 24 hours after the meal, when the liver is already damaged. The sulphur tuft, sulfur-yellow and very bitter, grows in the same places and causes serious digestive trouble. Honey fungus has a honey-colored cap covered with small brown tufts, white then spotted gills, a white, cottony ring, and a white spore print; the funeral bell is smaller, orange-brown and smooth, with a fragile ring and a rusty-brown spore print; the sulphur tuft has yellow-green, then black gills. Have every harvest checked by a pharmacist or a mycologist.
If in the slightest doubt, leave it. If you feel unwell after eating it, even several hours later, call Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) or 911.
Small honey-colored caps in large clusters on stumps, slightly acrid, boiled then pickled or sautéed in Poland and Russia.
- Origin
- Forests of Europe, Asia and North America
- Season (United States)
- September to November
- Preparation
- Always boiled with the water discarded, then cooked: raw or undercooked, it is toxic. If you pick it yourself, have the mushroom checked by a pharmacist or a mycological society before eating it.
- Molecules
- Mushroom beta-glucansIn small amounts, not counted Ergothioneine
- Did you know?
- One honey fungus in the forests of Oregon spreads over nearly 10 km²: it is one of the largest living things in the world.