06/Sep/25, 2:47 PM
Kõrveküla, Lääne-Viru, Eesti
Mixed forest, on living spruce tree
59°14'09.9"N 25°39'04.6"E
🌡️ 23°C ⛅ Passing clouds
Original Instagram postArmillaria mellea
honey fungus
- Scientific identification
- Armillaria mellea (Vahl) P.Kumm.
- Family
- Physalacriaceae
- Class
- Agaricomycetes
- Genus
- Armillaria
Names across languages
- English: honey fungus
- German: Honiggelber Hallimasch
- Finnish: Keltamesisieni
- Estonian: Mesi-külmaseen
- Russian: Опёнок осенний
The scientific profile
From the latest record: 2025-09-06.
Hymenium
Gills, white when young, yellow-to-cream tinged with age, spacing moderate to somewhat distant
Cap
Convex when young, flattening with age, honey-yellow to red-brown, often darker toward the center, surface smooth or slightly scaly-toward center, sticky when wet, margin may become striate or wavy
Hymenium Attachment
Adnate to subdecurrent
Stipe
Cylindrical, robust, tapering at base, upper portion paler, whitish, lower portion yellow-brown to reddish, has a prominent ring, base with dark black rhizomorphs and connected clumps
Spore print
Spore print white
Ecology
Parasitic (causes root rot) and saprotrophic on dead wood, found at the base of living or dead trees, on stumps, especially hardwoods, in dense clusters
Edibility
Edible and choice, young specimens preferred, ring and caps more palatable
Fruit body
Fruit body medium to large clusters, stipe 5–17 cm long, 0.5–3 cm thick
Dimensions
Cap: ~5–15 cm diameter
Chemical reactions
No widely documented dramatic color chemical reactions
Odour
Sweetish, slightly fungal, pleasant
Taste
Slightly nutty
Microscopy
Spores ellipsoid, smooth, with a prominent apiculus, 6–9 × 4–6 µm; hyaline in KOH; basidia 2- and 4-sterigmate; cheilocystidia present (25–40 × 2.5–10 µm), thin-walled, pleurocystidia absent
Overview
Honey-coloured clustered mushroom that grows parasitically and saprotrophically on woody bases of trees
1871). Führ. Pilzk. (Zerbst): 134.
Field encounters
Source hashtags
#hongos #armillariamellea #armillaria #honeyfungus #mesikülmaseen #külmaseen #keltamesisieni #honiggelberhallimasch #hallimasch #mushroomphoto #fungiphoto #fungimacro #naturephotography #seenefotod #pilzefotografieren #фотогрибов #sieniäkuvia #houby #mycology #fungistudy #mushroom #fungi #woodfungi #ediblefungi #seened #pilze
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