Pholiota Praecox
Pholiota praecoxEarly Pholiota
Cap or Pileus - Creamy white, smooth, not shining. Very thin skin. 1-2 inches long.
Stem or Stipe - Creamy white, rather scaly. Skin peels readily. Stuffed or hollow. 1-5 inches long.
Gills or Lamellae - Creamy white when young, brown when mature. Soft, close, unequal, notched at the inner extremity, and attached to the stem.
Veil and Ring - Stretched like a drumhead from stem to margin of cap. Variable in manner of parting. It sometimes separates from cap margin, and forms a distinct ring about the stem; again, but little remains on the stem, and much on the rim of the cap.
Spores - Rusty brown.
Flesh - White, solid though soft, moist. Taste slightly bitter.
Time - May to July.
Habitat - Grassy ground.
The specimen pictured grew about the roots of a poplar tree in New Jersey.