Hypholoma fasciculare (Huds.) Quél.
Champ. Jura Vosg. 113. 1872.

Common Name: Sulphur tuft

Synonym: Naematoloma fasciculare (Huds.) Karst.

• Pileus

  Cap 2-7 cm broad, convex, expanding to nearly plane in age, sometimes with a broad low umbo; margin incurved when young, wavy if clustered, often slightly appendiculate with veil fragments; surface smooth, moist, disc yellow-orange to tawny-orange, shading to a lighter margin, overlapped caps often patchy purple-brown from shed spores; flesh pale yellow, thin; odor not distinctive; taste bitter.

• Lamellae

  Gills adnate, crowded, narrow, yellow becoming sulphur-green, in age dingy, olive-brown from maturing spores.

• Stipe

  Stipe 2-9 cm tall, 0.4-1.5 cm thick, equal or tapering downward, hollow, often twisted, pale yellow with brown fibrils, bruising brown on handling; partial veil evanescent, usually leaving sparse fragments on the cap margin but sometimes forming a superior fibrillose annular zone.

• Spores

  Spores 6.5-8 x 3.5-4.5 µm, elliptical, smooth, with an apical pore; spore print purple-brown.

• Habitat

  Gregarious to clustered on hardwood/conifer logs or stumps, sometimes in grass from buried wood; fruiting from late fall to mid-winter.

• Edibility

  Poisonous. Opinion is divided on the toxicity of this species, but since it is extremely bitter, the question is purely academic.

• Comments

  Hypholoma fasciculare is often abundant in Bay Area woodlands forming bright yellow clusters on both hardwood and conifer wood. The sulphur-green gills, slightly appendiculate cap margin in young specimens, and bitter taste are important field characters. A close cousin, Hypholoma capnoides, is not as common in our area. It lacks the sulphur-green gills and bitter taste.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Fred Stevens: Hypholoma fasciculare (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Hypholoma fasciculare (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Hypholoma fasciculare (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Hypholoma fasciculare (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hypholoma fasciculare (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Hypholoma fasciculare (CP) -- closeup of the gills
  • Agaricales of the Hawaiian Islands: Hypholoma fasciculare (CP)
  • Na Grzyby: Hypholoma fasciculare (D & CP)
  • Spotlight on Fungi: Hypholoma fasciculare (D & CP)
  • Informationszentrale gegen Vergiftungen der Universiteat Bonn: Hypholoma fasciculare (D & CP)
  • Eileen's Mushroom Mania: Naematoloma fasciculare (CP)
  • Wild Mushrooms From Tokyo: Hypholoma fasciculare (CP)
  • Pilze, Pilze, Pilze: Hypholoma fasciculare (CP)
  • Kinok-ya: Naematoloma fasciculare (CP)
  • Ammirati et al.: p. 111 (D), fig. 33 (I), fig. 41 (CP) [Naematoloma fasciculare]
  • Arora (1986): p. 382 (D), plate 92 (CP) [Naematoloma fasciculare]
  • Arora (1991): p. 134 (D & CP)
  • Benjamin: p. 381 (Toxicity Info), plate 31 (CP)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 4): sp. 411 (D, I, & CP)
  • Jordan: p. 254 (D & CP)
  • Lincoff: p. 709 (D), plate 61 (CP) [Naematoloma fasciculare]
  • McKenny et al.: p. 160 (D & CP) [Naematoloma fasciculare]
  • Miller: sp. 209 (D & CP) [Naematoloma fasciculare]
  • Phillips: p. 186 (CP), p. 187 (D)
  • Smith: sp. 169 (D & CP) [Naematoloma fasciculare]
  • Smith & Weber: sp. 210 (D & CP) [Naematoloma fasciculare]

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)