Honeys and Entolomas

Honey Mushroom


At this time of the year in my area Honey Mushrooms  (Genus Armillaria) is showing up in great numbers. It is a complex of parasitic fungus species, quite aggressive and destructive for the attacked plant. They vary greatly in color (from light yellow to dark brown) and size. The ringless Honey Mushroom (Armillaria tabescens) is usually dull brown to yellowish and does not have ring on the stem. It is first Honey Mushroom to appear in the season, preceding  Armillaria mellea for several weeks. The whole Honey Mushroom season is extremely short and can be over in just a few days.


The mushroom are medium size and show frequently in great clusters under the tree or on underground roots. Sometimes they do show as singles and couples and sometimes they grow directly on trunks and stumps. As usual, the best to pick are the buttons, before cap actually opens. Apparently they are forming the biggest single living organism on the planet Earth. The fungus with same DNA stretches over 400km somewhere in Oregon.


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Aborted Entoloma


Aborted Entoloma (Entoloma abortivum) is grayish mushroom of medium size. All rules of collecting tell you not to pick Entolomas because there is some dangerous species in this Genus. This one is notable exception and very easy to recognize. The aborted version looks like white blob on the floor of the wood. If cut flesh is somewhat "veined"and pinkish.  It is very hard to mix it with anything else.  Very frequently you can find both aborted and unaborted version side by side. There is a great difference of opinions what is actually going on between Entoloma and Honey mushrooms. Some sources think Honey attacks Entoloma, and some others think exactly the opposite. There is even a theory that it can go both ways, depending which mycelium is locally stronger. In any case, this is great edible mushroom despite quite unappetizing looks. I would not recommend picking unaborted version for the kitchen, although it is decent edible. It is too similar to poisonous Entoloma clupeatum.


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