Garden Fungi – Armillaria fumosa

 

Armillaria fumosa

(© Ken Cowell and Floss Wainwright)

Armillaria fumosa

(© Ken Cowell and Floss Wainwright)


 
Grows on WOOD.
 
Fruit-body: Caps are of various shapes, from convex to funnel-shaped on older more ragged specimens. Fawn colour, shading to grey towards the centre with a brown margins. The grey colour is caused by the outgrowth of dark hairs on the surface.
 
Stem: Stem colour is variable, but there is a distinct difference between the darker, purple tinged lower part before it changes to white at the base and the smaller white upper part above a white ring around the stem. The stem is attached to the centre of the cap.
 
Spore colour: White.
 
Habit: Dense groups of fungi, often joined at the base, ranging in size from 30mm to 100mm across and up to 90mm high. Sometimes seen growing on buried wood, such as tree roots.