All dressed up

Here's a pretty one for you. This is Flammulina velutipes, the velvet-foot fungus. The dark coloration of the stem bases, white spore print, and lack of an annulus are helpful diagnostic characters, but this fungus is sometimes confused by amateur collectors with the deadly Galerina autumnalis. The latter has a ring on the stem, with brown spores, while Flammulina has no ring and white spores. Don't eat Galerina--it has the same toxins as the deadly Amanitas, and it can and will kill you if you eat it! Take great care before you collect Flammulina to ensure that you know the difference between these two.

Flammulina is a cold-tolerant fungus that fruits even during cold weather in the Midwest--Tom Volk has captured specimens intact in Wisconsin in February!

As beautiful as this fungus can be in the wild, you may be more familiar with its cultivated form, which looks nothing at all like the wild specimens found in the woods. When you buy this fungus at the grocer's, it is thin, spindly, and completely white with a very small cap. Yes, the image I'm sharing with you is the true form of the feeble and pathetic Enoki mushroom. Enokis are kept in bottles in the dark when grown, and don't get to experience the full glory of becoming a lovely Flammulina. Pity.