Flaky Pholiota – The Shaggy Scalycap
It’s always a joy to find great big clumps of mushrooms while out foraging, especially when you’re not having much luck elsewhere. When you can’t find one mushroom – a bunch of them come along at the same time. Typical!
Always found at the base of living trees, the Shaggy Scalycap (Pholiota squarossa) is usually found in large, visually striking groups. The first time I found a particularly large gathering of 20 or so together, I was hoping they were edible. In fact I was ‘wishing’ that they were! But in fact they’re just too bitter to be enjoyed which is a great shame considering their size and abundance in which they grow.
The name Pholiota means ‘scaly’ in greek which is a very apt name for this particular genus, all of whom share the common trait of bearing scales on their cap and/or stem. But our common Shaggy Scalycap is one of the best examples at showing this feature off.
The cap, which ranges in size from 3 to 12cm, is a particularly dull or straw-like yellow covered in thick brown ‘upturned’ scales, and it doesn’t stop there! The long stem is just the same, with the scales becoming finer and smaller towards the darkening base. Apart from the crowded cinnamon brown gills (pale yellow when young) the only smooth area to be found is just above the torn ring zone – very close to where it meets the cap.
Although fairly common in the UK mainly with deciduous trees, the Shaggy Scalycap is particularly common in the Rocky Mountains with aspen and spruce trees. So that adds up to great scenery with the bonus of impressive mushrooms. It’s all good.
Other identification tips are in the ID chart below, but before you look there I thought I’d make a note about the poisonous Inocybe terrigena which can sometimes look familiar if you’re not used to the Shaggy Scalycap. But fortunately this not-so-common toadstool (one the ‘Fibrecaps’) grows on it’s own in chalky soils and not in dense clusters at the base of trees.
The Shaggy Scalycap grows at the base of living trees, often in large and dense clusters
Close up of the scaly cap and stem. Note the smooth area on the stem above the torn ring.
QUICK ID TABLE: SHAGGY SCALYCAP Pholiota squarossa |
CAP / FLESH 4-12cm across. Convex; sometimes bell-shaped. Inrolled margin. Pale yellow with coarse brown scales. STEM 5-12cm x 1-1.5cm. Like cap in colour; darker brown at the base. Smooth texture above the ring. GILLS / SPORE PRINT Subdecurrent and crowded. Initially yellow, maturing to cinammon. HABITAT / SEASON At the base of deciduous trees in clumps. Occasionally with conifers. Autumn. EDIBILITY Not edible. |
The Genus PHOLIOTA (Scalycaps): Characteristics to look out for: • Grow on base of stumps and standing living or dead broad leaved trees, branches, wood debris. |
Is this inedible just because of the taste, or is it also poisonous?
Hi Mark. It’s just the taste. Pholiota squarrosa is not a poisonous mushroom. Some people eat it even though it is bitter tasting. I suppose a bit of cooking magic could sort things out? I’m not sure.
Thankyou so much for this ident blog. Had it down as a type of honey fungus until a video showed them covered in slime, which this one never is. To make these scalycaps edible I soaked in baking soda for a few hours, blanched in boiling water for 3 min, then fried with butter. After all this the taste was a little bland, but still quite scrummy.
I haven’t tasted them so that’s interesting to hear. I hope they weren’t too bland.
John