Common Pholiota, Shaggy Scalycap (Pholiota squarrosa)
Index Fungorum Pholiota squarrosa (Vahl) P. Kumm.
MycoBank Pholiota squarrosa (Vahl) P. Kumm.
Scaly Pholiota, Destructive Pholiota, Hairy Pholiota.
Squarrosus, a, um — covered with scabs, scales, rough.
Dryophila squarrosa (Vahl) Quél., Enchiridion Fungorum in Europa media et praesertim in Gallia Vigentium: 68 (1886)
Lepiota squarrosa (Vahl) Gray, A natural arrangement of British plants 1: 602 (1821)
Stropharia squarrosa (Vahl) Morgan, Journal of Mycology 14 (2): 73 (1908)
Fungus squarrosus (Vahl) Kuntze, Revisio generum plantarum 3 (3): 479 (1898)
Pholiota squarrosa f. squarrosa (?)
3–15 cm in diameter, initially convex or bell-shaped with an inrolled margin, expanding at maturity to plano-convex or flat, with or without a central umbo. The surface is dry, ranging from pale yellow to golden yellow, entirely covered with woolly, pointed, reddish-brown scales. The margin bears fringed remnants of the partial veil.
Gills narrowly adnate or adnexed with a tooth, initially pale yellow, later rusty brown, sometimes with an olive tint; in young fruiting bodies, they are covered by a membranous-fibrous partial veil.
5–15 cm long, 1–2 cm in diameter, tapering toward the base, firm, curved, sometimes deeply rooted in the substrate, with a woolly or floccose ring in the upper part. The surface is pale yellow, with a white bloom above the ring and covered with reddish-brown scales below the ring.
Elastic, thick, fleshy. In the cap pale yellow, with a greenish zone at the point of gill attachment; in the stipe yellow. Taste unpleasant, rancid.
Weak, pleasant mushroom-like. With age, the odor becomes unpleasant.
Spore print ochraceous. Spores ellipsoid, with a discernible germ pore, smooth, pale yellow.
Xylotroph. Parasite. Grows in numerous clusters at the base of tree trunks, primarily on deciduous species (Fagus, Salix, Fraxinus, Malus, Betula, Populus, and others), occasionally found on conifers (Picea). Distributed in Europe, Asia, North America, and Japan. Common, annual. The fungus is capable of continuing its development on dead trees, forming fruiting bodies annually until the complete decomposition of the wood.
Scaly Pholiota (Pholiota squarrosoides) — macroscopically can be distinguished from Ph. squarrosa by the lighter, almost white, sticky, slightly slimy surface of the cap between the scales; microscopically — by smaller spores.
It is dangerous to confuse Ph. squarrosa with autumn honey fungi, representatives of the genus Armillaria, which grow in large clusters at the base of tree trunks. They are easily distinguished by their smaller size and white spore print. At the same time, one of the folk names for Pholiota is "royal honey mushroom".
Common Scaly Pholiota is a potential source for the production of medicinal compounds. In 2007, Wangun H. V. K. and Hertweck C. isolated a new substance from it named squarrosidine, which inhibits the enzyme xanthine oxidase. Xanthine oxidase promotes the crystallization of uric acid in joints, leading to gouty arthritis, and inhibitors of this enzyme are used to treat gout.
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