A medium-sized western North American gilled mushroom with a yellow to yellow-brown cap and a stem sheathed in shaggy whitish scales below a poorly defined ring zone. It often fruits near melting snowbanks or soon after snowmelt under conifers, and in hardwoods on the West Coast. North American Floccularia taxonomy is unsettled, and related named taxa may not be separable by DNA.
Reported edible but bland (Wikipedia). MushroomExpert gives no edibility information. Because it is a white-spored, veiled mushroom, any collection must be checked carefully against Amanita species: dig up the whole base and look for a volva or bulb. Not recommended for beginners.
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Habitat
Alone or scattered on the ground; probably mycorrhizal. In the Rocky Mountains under conifers in summer and fall, often at snowbank edges or after snowmelt; on the West Coast under hardwoods (especially oaks and alders) or occasionally conifers in fall and winter.
Distribution
Western North America: Rocky Mountains and Pacific Coast, including the Pacific Northwest. Also reported from Kashmir, India, where it is suspected to associate with Pinus wallichiana.
Characteristics
Cap: 4-12 cm, convex becoming flat; slightly sticky at first, then dry; covered with pressed-down fibers, especially at the center; often bright yellow when young, becoming yellow-brown to brown over the disc with a yellower margin. Gills: notched or nearly free, close, whitish to yellowish. Stem: 2-8 cm long, up to 2.5 cm thick; smooth and whitish near the apex, with shaggy zones of soft whitish scales below that may develop yellowish or brownish tips; ring zone poorly defined. Flesh: white to slightly yellowish, unchanging. Odor and taste: not distinctive. Spore print: white. Spores: 5-8 x 4-5 µm, elliptical, smooth, amyloid.
