Funeral Bell vs Sheathed Woodtuft
Galerina marginata and Kuehneromyces mutabilis are confused for one another often enough to be worth putting next to each other.
Small, brown and deadly. Contains the same amatoxins as the Death Cap and grows on wood, where people hunt edible species.
Good edible on stumps — and a notorious twin of the deadly Galerina marginata. Only for experienced foragers.
Side by side
| Galerina marginata | Kuehneromyces mutabilis | |
|---|---|---|
| In this game | Poisonous | Edible |
| Habitat | Clustered on rotting conifer wood, sometimes broadleaf; stumps and buried timber. | Dense clusters on broadleaf stumps and dead wood, especially birch and beech. |
| Season | Spring to late autumn, mostly autumn. | Spring to autumn. |
| Spore print | Rust-brown. | Rust-brown — the same colour as the Funeral Bell, so the print settles nothing. |
The recorded spore prints differ: rust-brown for Galerina marginata, rust-brown — the same colour as the funeral bell, so the print settles nothing for Kuehneromyces mutabilis. That is one documented difference, not a test you can pass.
This comparison cannot make a mushroom safe to eat. It sets out the few characteristics this game records, in general terms, for two species that vary by region, age and growing conditions. Real specimens overlap in ways no table and no photograph can separate, and the deadly one here is deadly in a single meal. Ask a qualified local expert, every time.
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Galerina marginata is also confused with Wrinkled Conecap, Honey Fungus and Velvet Shank / Enoki.
Kuehneromyces mutabilis is also confused with Sulphur Tuft, Honey Fungus and Conifer Tuft.
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