DESTRUCTIVE PHOLIOTA

DESTRUCTIVE PHOLIOTA

Pholiota destruens
STROPHIARIACEAE FAMILY (Strophariaceae)

Click on each photo thumbnail to enlarge.

The mushroom cap is about 3-8 inches wide and is white or creamy in color(Photo A). It is convex when young but expands to more broadly convex as it ages(B). It has a shaggy margin from the remains of its veil(B). The gills are attached, close, broad, white becoming brown(C). The flesh is thick, firm and white. The stalk is 2-6 inches long enlarging downward to the base. It has a partial veil at the base that is white and copious leaving a ring on the upper part of the stalk(C). Photos E-H show young mushrooms. H shows the gills of a young mushroom.

This mushroom is found singly or in clusters on logs and dead wood, particularly on cottonwood trees in the floodplains of Fontenelle Forest where it is uncommon. It is usually seen from September to November.

Its name comes from the fact that it rapidly destroys the wood on which it feeds.

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