Honey fungus

Armillaria mellea

Armillaria mellea is a basidiomycete fungus in the genus "Armillaria". It is a plant pathogen and part of a cryptic species complex of closely related and morphologically similar species. It causes Armillaria root rot in many plant species and produces mushrooms around the base of trees it has infected.
Honey Mushrooms The woods in Emerald Lake State Forest were full of these beautiful honey mushrooms: I spotted at least 50-100 growing in clusters! With age, they have nearly flat, tan/orange caps, white gills, a partial veil, and stems with flocculence. Sizes ranged from 6-12cm tall. Honey fungus is a "white rot" fungus, which is pathogenic to trees and shrubs. It can grow on living, decaying, and dead plant material Armillaria mellea,Geotagged,Honey Mushrooms,Honey fungus,Summer,United States,fungi,fungus,honey fungi,honey fungus,mushroom,mushrooms

Appearance

The basidiocarp of each has a smooth cap 3 to 15 cm in diameter, convex at first but becoming flattened with age often with a central raised umbo, later becoming somewhat dish-shaped.

The margins of the cap are often arched at maturity and the surface is sticky when wet. Though typically honey-coloured, this fungus is rather variable in appearance and sometimes has a few dark, hairy scales near the centre somewhat radially arranged.

The gills are white at first, sometimes becoming pinkish-yellow or discoloured with age, broad and fairly distant, attached to the stipe at right angles or are slightly decurrent. The spore print is white. The stipe is of variable length, up to about 20 cm long and 3.5 cm in diameter. It is fibrillose and of a firm spongy consistency at first but later becomes hollow. It is cylindrical and tapers to a point at its base where it is fused to the stipes of other mushrooms in the clump. It is whitish at the upper end and brownish-yellow below, often with a very dark-coloured base.

There is a broad persistent skin-like ring attached to the upper part of the stipe. This has a velvety margin and yellowish fluff underneath and extends outwards as a white partial veil protecting the gills when young. The flesh of the cap is whitish and has a sweetish odour and flavour with a tinge of bitterness. Under the microscope, the spores are approximately elliptical, 7–9 by 6–7 µm, inamyloid with prominent apiculi at the base. The basidia lack basal clamps.

The main part of the fungus is underground where a mat of mycelial threads may extend for great distances. They are bundled together in rhizomorphs that are black in this species. The fungal body is not bioluminescent but its mycelia are luminous when in active growth.
Light Mushrooms Honey Mushrooms (Armillaria mellea) Stoney Swamp Trails, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Armillaria mellea,Canada,Fall,Geotagged,Honey fungus,Ontario,Ottawa,Stoney Swamp Trails

Naming

"Armillaria mellea" once included a range of species with similar features that have since been reclassified.
armillaria mellea This is a picture of armillaria mellea at South River Farms Park in Edgewater, Maryland. Armillaria mellea,Fall,Geotagged,Honey fungus,United States

Distribution

"Armillaria mellea" is widespread in northern temperate zones. It has been found in North America, Europe and northern Asia, and It has been introduced to South Africa. The fungus grows parasitically on a large number of broadleaf trees. It fruits in dense clusters at the base of trunks or stumps.

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