Golden Bootleg

Description

The golden bootleg is a large, striking mushroom with a cap 5–20 cm across, golden yellow to yellow-brown, matt and covered with fine granules that stick to the fingers. Veil remnants hang from the cap margin, and the stem bears a golden-brown ring. The gills are cream at first, later ochre-brown, and the stem is widened at the base and covered with scales.

It grows from August to November in deciduous and mixed forests, parks and scrub, often in patches of nettles, and also in ditches and along roads. In Poland it is rare.

Because of its appearance it is easy to recognise; it can only be confused with the smaller Cystoderma species. It is a poisonous mushroom and should not be collected for eating.

Identification features

Cap

Diameter 5–20 cm; hemispherical when young, then bell-shaped, conical to convex. Colour golden yellow to yellow-brown, often with an orange tinge. Surface matt, covered with fine granules that stain the hand when touched; sometimes wrinkled. Margin sharp, with hanging veil remnants.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Gills crowded, free (not attached to the stem), at first cream, later ochre to ochre-brown.

Stem

Cylindrical with a widened base, tough yet flexible. Above the ring cream or yellowish, smooth; below the ring yellowish to yellow-brown, covered with granular scales. Ring golden-brown, granular in its lower part.

Flesh

White or yellowish, turning yellow when cut. Smell sourish, aromatic; taste mild. The flesh should not be tasted.

Spore print and spores

Spore print rusty brown. Spores oblong, pointed, rough, 10–14 × 5–6 µm, without a germ pore.

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Saprotroph. Grows in deciduous and mixed forests, parks and scrub, also in patches of nettles and other plants, in ditches and along roadsides.

Distribution. Found on all continents except Antarctica and Australia. Rare in Poland; listed on the Red List of Plants and Fungi of Poland with status R (rare, potentially threatened because of a limited range and small habitat areas). Also on lists of threatened species in England, the Netherlands and Germany. Not under species protection in Poland (Dz.U. 2014 item 1408) and not on the list of fungi approved for sale in Poland.

Fruiting. From August to November.

What can it be confused with?

• Cystoderma species (Cystoderma), including Cystoderma aureum — They are much smaller. Thanks to its large size and golden-yellow, granular surface, the golden bootleg is usually easy to recognise.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• The species was described in 1772 by Heinrich Gottfried von Mattuschka, who named it Agaricus aureus; the current name dates from 1928.
• It is the only member of the monotypic genus Phaeolepiota.
• It occurs on all continents except Antarctica and Australia.
• In Polish literature it was formerly called aksamitka złota; the current name was proposed by Władysław Wojewoda in 2003.