A tall, slender stropharioid mushroom with a slimy yellow to yellowish-brown cap whose margin is hung with white veil fragments when young. The stem is shaggy below a fragile ring zone and the gills turn purple-gray to purple-black as the dark spores mature. It is a common decomposer of woody debris along the Pacific Coast.
Edibility is debated: some authors consider it not poisonous, one source lists it as possibly poisonous, and others (Arora; Miller & Miller) advise against eating it. Not recommended.
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Habitat
Saprobic, alone or in groups on woody debris, leaf litter and wood chips in conifer and sometimes hardwood forests, often in disturbed areas; on the Pacific Coast also with alder. It can invade outdoor wood-chip mushroom beds. Fall through spring.
Distribution
Pacific Coast of North America (West Coast); illustrated collections on MushroomExpert are from California and Alaska.
Characteristics
Cap: 3-14 cm, hemispheric becoming broadly convex to flat; slimy when fresh, yellow to brownish or pale yellow, smooth; white veil remnants hang from the margin. Gills: attached, close; whitish to pale gray, becoming purplish gray to purple-black, edges whitish. Stem: 6-16 cm long, 1-2 cm thick; smooth above a ring or ring zone that may disappear, finely shaggy below; white mycelial threads at the base. Flesh: white, unchanging. Odor: not distinctive or slightly radish-like to mealy. Spore print: dark purple-brown to blackish. Spores: 11-16 x 6-8 um, ellipsoid, smooth, thick-walled with a large pore.
