Yellow Fieldcaps (Bolbitius titubans)

I first found these on woodchip mulch near my Forest School site, and enjoyed a few minutes, pointing them out to a group of ten-year-olds. It was raining and these were just on their way up, glossy and slimy and brilliant yellow. Of course, I had to encourage the kids to touch them for their texture! They are briefly-lived and quite changeable in appearance. I’ll try to grab some photos of the same mushroom in its later phases to put onto this page for comparison.

What it looks like

Look for this mushroom throughout the summer and autumn. When it first appears, it looks like a very small yellow egg. Then the stalk appears and the mushroom opens, losing colour until it is dun-coloured to white, with a ragged edge and a shriveled look. Its cap is typically 1-5cm across. It’s hygrophanous, meaning that when wet, it’s a bit slimy. The stem is brittle, 2-4mm in diameter, hollow, and 5-8cm tall when mature, pale yellow to white and scaly in appearance. The gills are pale yellow, turning reddish brown with maturity, and adnate. Mushrooms appear singly in clusters.

Uses

Inedible.