One of the most common woodland mushrooms in North America: a small to medium, tan to reddish-brown, white-spored mushroom growing from litter in almost any kind of forest, often in groups or rings. It has crowded whitish gills, a pliant hollow stem and no ring. Mating studies show it is a complex of several interbreeding groups, some of which have been named as separate species.
Edibility disputed; not recommended. Some sources list the caps as edible but not worthwhile, while others report gastrointestinal upset. The stem is tough. It can accumulate mercury, so collections from roadsides or industrial areas are especially unsuitable. Many small brown mushrooms resemble it; a white spore print is required, and anything with a rusty-brown print may be a deadly amatoxin-bearing Galerina.
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Habitat
Saprobic on litter and twigs in hardwood, conifer and mixed forests, especially oak and pine; also on wood-chip mulch. Alone, scattered, in loose clusters, arcs or rings; spring through fall, and in winter in warm climates.
Distribution
Widespread across North America and common in temperate Europe; very common across the Northern Hemisphere. North American collections belong to a species complex.
Characteristics
Cap: 1-7.5 cm, convex with an incurved margin, becoming broadly convex to flat; moist and bald; dark reddish brown to brown when young, fading to tan, orange-brown or pale buff. Gills: attached or free, crowded, whitish to pinkish becoming buff. Stem: 1-10 cm long, 2-7 mm thick, equal or slightly flared at the base, dry, pliant, bald, whitish above and buff below, soon hollow; thin whitish rhizomorphs at the base. Flesh: thin, whitish. Odor and taste: not distinctive. Spore print: white to creamy or pale yellowish white. Spores: 5-6.5 x 2.5-3.5 µm, smooth, elliptical, inamyloid.
