Sheathed Woodtuft

Cap

2-6 cm. Convex then expanding and usually broadly umbonate. Bright orange-cinnamon when moist, drying to pale ochraceous from the centre outwards (hygrophanous). Surface smooth, whitish at margin due to remaining parts of the veil.

Gills

Crowded, attached to the stem (adnate) or slightly running down (decurrent), narrow. Light ochraceous at first, turning cinnamon brown with age. The edges are smooth.

Cortina / Veil

Has a very short lived veil covering the gills on young mushrooms.

Stem

4–10 cm tall, 0.3–1 cm diameter, cylindrical, curved, clustered, hollowed with age. Pale and smooth at apex, darker tan to blackish towards the base, scaly below the ephemeral ring.

Skirt

Ascending, small, ephemeral. The ring-zone is often brown from spore deposition.

Flesh

Thin, pale yellowish in cap, tough and brownish at stem.

Habitat

Saprotrophic on dead wood of broadleaved trees, particularly Birch. Grows in big clusters (caespitose), it can be found all year long, but most of the fruit bodies are produced during Summer to Autumn.

Possible Confusion

The Funeral Bell (Galerina marginata), pictured, is very similar but prefers conifers although can be found on hardwood as well. It grows in small clusters. The most important difference can be found on the stem. Under its membranous ring or ring-zone, the Funeral Bell stem is covered with silky-white to silver fibres. Be aware that the Funeral Bell is a highly toxic, potentially lethal species.

The Velvet Shank (Flammulina velutipes) is a typical winter species, it doesn’t have a ring, its stem is velvety and darkening towards the stem base.

Taste / Smell

Smell and taste pleasant. It is a choice edible mushroom for many of us!

Frequency

Very common and widespread in the UK. 

Spores

Spore print is deep ochre or sepia brown. Spores are broadly ellipsoid, smooth and light green with germ-pore.