Pholiota aurivella
Führer Pilzk.: 83. 1871.
Common Name: none
For description see NA Pholiota.
Gregarious to cespitose on trunks and logs of conifers (fir & pine) or hardwoods; common, fruiting from late summer through fall, widely distributed.
Potentially toxic, causes gastrointestinal upsets in some people.
Pholiota aurivella represents a complex of closely related but genetically distinct species distributed throughout temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. As circumscribed here P. aurivella can be distinguished by a viscid, yellow to tawny cap decorated with darker, appressed scales, a scaly pale yellow stipe, yellow fibrillose veil, and growth in cespitose clusters primarily on conifer wood. Pholiota adiposa is a name used by Europeans for a species that matches these details but grows mainly on hardwoods. Pholiota limonella is indistinguishable in the field but has smaller spores and is found more commonly on hardwoods.
Arora, D. (1986). Mushrooms Demystified. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 959 p.
Bas, C., Kyper, T.W., Noordeloos, M.E. & Vellinga, E.C.(1999). Flora Agaricina Neerlandica—Critical monographs on the families of agarics and boleti occurring in the Netherlands. Volume 4. Strophariaceae, Tricholomataceae. A. A.Balkema: Rotterdam, Netherlands. 191 p.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Holec, J. (2001). The Genus Pholiota in Cental and Western Europe. IHW-Verlag: Munich, Germany. 220 p.
McCleneghan S.C. (1991). A Systematic Study of the Genus Pholiota (Fr.) Kummer in California. Masters Thesis. Humboldt State University: Arcata, CA. 160 p. (PDF)
Smith, A.H. & Hesler, L.R. (1968). The North American Species of Pholiota. Hafner Publishing Company: New York, NY. 492 p. (Web) (PDF)