Sulphur Tuft vs Honey Fungus
Hypholoma fasciculare and Armillaria mellea are confused for one another often enough to be worth putting next to each other.
Bitter yellow clusters on stumps. Mistaken for the edible Hypholoma capnoides and for honey fungus.
Edible only well cooked and never raw; some people react badly even then. A destructive tree parasite.
Side by side
| Hypholoma fasciculare | Armillaria mellea | |
|---|---|---|
| In this game | Poisonous | Edible |
| Habitat | Dense tufts on stumps and dead wood of almost any tree. | Dense clusters at the base of living and dead broadleaf trees, spreading by black bootlace rhizomorphs. |
| Season | All year, peaking in autumn. | Autumn. |
| Spore print | Purple-brown. | White — the fastest check against its deadly lookalikes. |
The recorded spore prints differ: purple-brown for Hypholoma fasciculare, white — the fastest check against its deadly lookalikes for Armillaria mellea. 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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Hypholoma fasciculare is also confused with Conifer Tuft and Sheathed Woodtuft.
Armillaria mellea is also confused with Funeral Bell and Sheathed Woodtuft.
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