Armillaria mellea (Vahl : Fr.) P. Kumm. 1871
Honey mushroom, honey fungus
The term “honey mushroom” applies to more than one member of this species. They live on trees or woody shrubs. They are parasitic—they attack living plants, as well as on deadwood. Sometimes, for reasons not yet understood, they “go crazy,” causing extensive root rot and destruction.
Identification: Typically the caps are yellow-brown in color. They may be sticky when wet. The caps are convex when the mushrooms are young, but may become concave later. Some are bioluminescent—they glow in the dark. The spores of this mushroom are white.
The mycelium that produces honey mushrooms is bioluminescent,
creating a soft glow in rotting wood sometimes called “foxfire.” 
Edibility: Young buttons are very good if the stipe is discarded (or peeled) and the buttons cooked.
Online References:
References:
9/25/2012 · Beaver Brook, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 13 × 9″ (33 × 22 cm) 
9/23/2007 · Milford, Pennsylvania 
10/23/2009 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 6″ (13 × 16 cm) 
10/6/2021 · Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park, Freeport, Maine · ≈ 11 × 7″ (28 × 18 cm) 
8/27/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Self-guided Nature Trail, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 8 × 6″ (20 × 16 cm) 
9/25/2012 · Beaver Brook, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 9 × 6″ (23 × 15 cm) 
8/27/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Self-guided Nature Trail, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 7 × 6″ (18 × 16 cm) 
10/20/2023 · Schiller Coastal Studies Center, Orr’s Island, Maine 
8/27/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Self-guided Nature Trail, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 6 × 5″ (15 × 13 cm) 
9/25/2012 · Beaver Brook, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 6 × 4½″ (15 × 11 cm) 
10/6/2021 · Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park, Freeport, Maine · ≈ 13 × 9″ (33 × 22 cm) 
9/25/2012 · Beaver Brook, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 6 × 4½″ (14 × 11 cm) 
Mycelium from under tree bark. · 9/5/2025 · Off Rte 24, Gardiner, Maine · By Michaeline Peterson · ≈ 11 × 7″ (28 × 18 cm) 
6/15/2007 · Maine · By Kathleen Williamson 
10/23/2009 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 8″ (21 × 19 cm) 
9/23/2007 · Milford, Pennsylvania 
8/27/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Self-guided Nature Trail, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 6 × 8″ (16 × 21 cm) 
6/15/2007 · Maine · By Kathleen Williamson 
8/27/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Self-guided Nature Trail, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.5 cm) 
9/25/2012 · Beaver Brook, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 10 × 7″ (26 × 18 cm) 
8/27/2017 · Beaver Brook Conservation Area, Self-guided Nature Trail, Hollis, New Hampshire · ≈ 8 × 5″ (20 × 13 cm) 
1/13/2018 · Hyde St., San Francisco, California · By Heather A. Kent 
| Roughly 75 people in North America are poisoned each year by mushrooms, often from eating a poisonous species that resembles an edible species. Though deaths are rare, there is no cure short of a liver transplant for severe poisoning. Don’t eat any mushroom unless you are absolutely certain of its identity! Please don’t trust the identifications on this site. We aren’t mushroom experts and we haven’t focused on safely identifying edible species. |
Armillaria mellea description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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