First person to use this name on MO: Nathan Wilson
Editors: Alan Rockefeller, Joseph D. Cohen
Observations of:
this name (483)
this taxon, other names (153)
this taxon, any name (636)
other taxa, this taxon proposed (242)
Rank: Species
Status: Accepted
Name: Armillaria mellea
Author: (Vahl) P. Kumm.
Citation: Führ. Pilzk. (Zerbst): 134 (1871)
Synonym(s):Armillaria mellea group
Deprecated Synonyms: Armillariella mellea (Vahl) P. Karst.
Misspellings: Amarillaria mellea
Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Physalacriaceae
Genus: Armillaria
Armillaria mellea is commonly called the “Honey Mushroom” or the “Ringed Honey Mushroom.” A. mellea has a smooth and sticky, but sometimes dry cap. It is 1-4 inches wide and the color ranges from yellow to a yellow-rusty-brown. The cap may have stiff black scaly hairs. The gills are off-white and stain yellow to red; attached or slightly descending. The stalk is 2-6 inches long and 1/4-3/4 inches thick. It is white, turning yellowish to yellow-brown with age; has a thick annulus that is white to yellow, changing colors with the stalk as it ages. Stalks often fused at the base, coming to points. The white rhizomorphs are long and flattened. There are no clamps found at the base of the basidia. Spore print is white to cream. Spores are 8-12 × 6-7 micrometers; smooth, elliptic to ovoid, and inamyloid.