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.
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