Theolepiota golden (Phaeolepiota aurea)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Agaricales (Agaric or Lamellar)
- Family: Agaricaceae (Champignon)
- Genus: Phaeolepiota (Theolepiota)
- Species: Phaeolepiota aurea (Theolepiota golden)
- Other names for the mushroom:
- Golden umbrella
- Mustard plaster
- Herbal flake
Synonyms:
Golden umbrella
Mustard plaster
Herbal flake
- Agaricus aureus
- Pholiota aurea
- Togaria aurea
- Cystoderma aureum
- Agaricus vahlii
Description of the mushroom
The cap is 5-25 cm in diameter, in youth from hemispherical to hemispherical-bell-shaped, with age it becomes convex-prostrate, with a small tubercle. The surface of the cap is matte, grainy, of bright golden yellow, ocher yellow, ocher color, orange tint is possible. The edge of the cap of mature mushrooms may have a fringed remnant of a private bedspread. The granularity of the cap is more pronounced at a young age, up to scaly, with age it decreases, up to disappearance. At a young age, along the edge of the cap, at the place of attachment of the private bedspread, a strip of a darker shade may appear.
The pulp is white, yellowish, and may be reddish in the stem. Thick, fleshy. Without any special smell.
The plates are frequent, thin, curved, adherent. The color of the plates ranges from whitish, yellowish, pale ocher, or light clay at a young age, to rusty brown in mature mushrooms. In young mushrooms, the plates are completely covered with a dense filmy private veil of the same color as the cap, possibly a slightly darker or lighter shade.
Spore powder, rusty brown. Spores are oblong, pointed, 10..13 x 5..6 μm in size.
Leg5-20 cm high (up to 25), straight, with a slight thickening at the base, possibly widened in the middle, granular, matt, longitudinally wrinkled, smoothly turning into a private veil at a young age, also granular, radially wrinkled. At a young age, graininess is very pronounced, up to scaly. The color of the leg is the same as that of the coverlet (like the cap, possibly of a darker or lighter shade). With age, the veil breaks, a wide, hanging ring remains on the leg, the color of the leg, with brown or brownish-buffy scales that can cover almost, or even the entire area, giving the veil a completely brown appearance. With age, towards the old age of the fungus, the ring decreases noticeably in size. Above the ring, the leg is smooth, at a young age, light, the same color as the plates,there may be whitish or yellowish small flakes on it, then, with the maturation of the spores, the plates begin to darken, the leg remains lighter, but then it also darkens, reaching the same rusty-brown color as the plates of the old mushroom.
Habitat
Theolepiota golden grows from the second half of July to the end of October, in groups, including large ones. Prefers rich, fertile soils - meadows, pastures, fields, grows along roads, near nettles, near bushes. It can grow in clearings in light deciduous and larch forests. The mushroom is considered rare, it is listed in the Red Book of some regions of Russia.
Similar species
This mushroom has no similar species. However, in the photographs, when viewed from above, the pheolepiota can be confused with a ringed cap, but this is only in photographs, and only when viewed from above.
Edibility
Previously, golden pheolepiota was considered a conditionally edible mushroom, which is eaten after 20 minutes of boiling. However, now the information is contradictory, according to some reports, the mushroom accumulates cyanides, and can lead to poisoning. Therefore, recently, it is ranked among the inedible mushrooms. However, no matter how much I tried, I did not find information that someone poisoned them.
Photo: from the questions in the "Identifier".