A small, butterscotch-colored, hygrophanous Pholiota that fruits in groups or clusters on rotting conifer wood in spring, often near melting snowbanks in the Rocky Mountains. It is one of the most difficult groups in Pholiota and closely resembles the deadly Galerina marginata.
Edibility unknown; do not eat. It is very similar to Galerina marginata, which contains amatoxins and can be fatal, and to other small brown mushrooms on wood. A spore print and microscopy are needed to separate them.
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Gregarious to clustered on rotting wood, usually conifers and occasionally hardwoods; spring, often as part of the snowbank flora in mountains.
Distribution
Widely recorded in North America and abundant in the western mountains, especially the Rocky Mountains; records range from Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico to Michigan, Ohio, New York, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, North Carolina, Tennessee and Quebec.
Characteristics
Cap: 1-3.5 cm, conic-umbonate becoming convex to nearly flat, viscid and butterscotch when moist, fading to pale yellow. Gills: crowded, pinkish buff becoming dark dull cinnamon. Stem: 3-6 cm x 1.5-3 (5) mm, hollow, silky-fibrillose, base staining rusty brown. Odor and taste: mild. Spore print: cinnamon brown. Microscopy: spores 5.5-7 (7.5) x 3-4 (4.5) µm, smooth.
