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Edibility
Deadly
Lookalike Danger
2 / 5
Habitat
🌳 Birch
Season
Aug – Oct🌱 Now
"Once considered edible. Now known to accumulate over years and trigger autoimmune hemolysis. Lethal."
🌳 Host Trees & Plants
This species is found with or partners with the following hosts. Ectomycorrhizal hosts (green border) form a root-level partnership; ericoid / arbutoid shrubs (purple border) share the same mycorrhizal networks.
Birch
Betula spp.
Ectomycorrhizal
Chaga, birch bolete, birch polypore host.
Brown gilled mushroom with an inrolled cap edge. Historically eaten in Europe — now known to cause an immune-mediated hemolysis that builds up over many meals. Sensitized foragers die from a single later exposure.
Habitat
Wide range: under birch, pine, spruce, and oak across the northern hemisphere. Summer through late fall.
Look for this on the ground
Spruce-fir duff
Short stiff dark-green needles, small pendant cones, montane feather moss.
Season Windows by Region
Region
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Glacier / Flathead NF
MT · 3,500–8,500 ft
Bitterroot / Sapphire
MT · 3,500–9,000 ft
Helena / Big Belts
MT · 4,000–8,500 ft
Gallatin / Madison
MT · 5,500–10,500 ft
Beartooth / Absaroka
MT · 5,000–12,000 ft
Sawtooth / Stanley Basin
ID · 6,000–10,500 ft
Clearwater Mountains
ID · 2,500–7,500 ft
Boise Mountains
ID · 4,000–9,500 ft
Salmon River / Lemhi
ID · 4,500–10,000 ft
Sun Valley / Wood River
ID · 5,500–10,500 ft
Bighorn Mountains
WY · 5,500–13,000 ft
Bridger-Teton / Tetons
WY · 6,000–13,500 ft
Wind River Range
WY · 7,000–13,800 ft
Absaroka / Shoshone NF
WY · 6,000–12,500 ft
North Cascades
WA · 1,500–8,000 ft
Central Cascades / Snoqualmie
WA · 1,500–7,000 ft
Olympic Peninsula
WA · 500–6,000 ft
Gifford Pinchot / South Cascades
WA · 1,000–8,000 ft
Okanogan Highlands
WA · 2,500–7,500 ft
Mt Hood / North Oregon Cascades
OR · 2,000–8,000 ft
Central Oregon / Deschutes
OR · 3,500–9,000 ft
South Cascades / Klamath
OR · 4,000–9,000 ft
Wallowa Mountains
OR · 3,500–9,500 ft
Blue Mountains
OR · 4,000–8,000 ft
NW IL Driftless
IL · 600–1,200 ft
SW Michigan
MI · 580–1,000 ft
Central MI
MI · 700–1,400 ft
Northern Lower Peninsula
MI · 600–1,700 ft
Upper Peninsula
MI · 600–1,979 ft
WI Driftless Area
WI · 650–1,700 ft
Central WI
WI · 750–1,400 ft
Northern WI
WI · 1,000–1,950 ft
Eastern IA River Valleys
IA · 550–1,100 ft
SE MN Driftless
MN · 650–1,350 ft
Central MN
MN · 900–1,500 ft
Catskills / Hudson Valley
NY · 400–4,180 ft
Finger Lakes / Central NY
NY · 500–2,000 ft
Acadia / Down East
ME · 0–1,530 ft
Western Maine
ME · 400–4,170 ft
Northern Maine
ME · 500–5,267 ft
White Mountains
NH · 800–6,288 ft
Lakes Region / Southern NH
NH · 300–1,800 ft
Green Mountains
VT · 800–4,393 ft
Northeast Kingdom
VT · 600–3,300 ft
Berkshires / Western MA
MA · 500–3,491 ft
Willamette Valley / Columbia Gorge
OR · 200–1,500 ft
Turtle Mountain SF
ND · 1,800–2,400 ft
Pembina Gorge
ND · 850–1,500 ft
Black Hills NF
SD · 3,200–7,242 ft
Custer NF / Slim Buttes
SD · 3,000–4,000 ft
Pine Ridge / Oglala NG
NE · 3,400–5,000 ft
Niobrara River Valley
NE · 1,900–2,700 ft
Superior NF / BWCA
MN · 1,300–2,301 ft
Chippewa NF
MN · 1,200–1,500 ft
NE Iowa Driftless / Effigy Mounds
IA · 650–1,250 ft
Adirondacks
NY · 1,000–5,344 ft
MN North Shore / Sawtooth
MN · 600–2,301 ft
SE South Dakota / Newton Hills
SD · 1,300–1,550 ft
Sheyenne NG Oak Savanna
ND · 1,000–1,350 ft
Minnesota River Valley
MN · 800–1,150 ft
Catskills North / Mountain Lakes
NY · 800–4,000 ft
Hiawatha NF / Eastern UP
MI · 600–1,100 ft
Huron NF / Lower MI
MI · 600–1,200 ft
Chequamegon NF / NW WI
WI · 1,000–1,900 ft
Black River SF / Driftless WI North
WI · 750–1,400 ft
Mid-Coast Maine
ME · 0–800 ft
Connecticut River Valley / NH
NH · 300–1,500 ft
Nebraska NF / Bessey (Sandhills)
NE · 2,500–3,200 ft
Growing Requirements
Min Soil Temp
55°F
Moisture Need
rain 0.5in 7d
Drought Tolerance
moderate
Elevation Range
0–13,800 ft
Commonly Mistaken For
Species people confuse with this one — often the edible they were hunting for. Each is tagged with its own edibility; Brown Roll-Rim is the dangerous one.
Lactarius spp. (Milk Caps)
Use cautionMilk caps exude latex when cut; Paxillus does not. Ensure you bleed-test every brown gilled mushroom before considering it edible.
Chroogomphus / Gomphidius
EdibleEdible spike-cap mushrooms with similar color. Different gill structure.
Identification Tips
- ✓Stop ALL consumption — even decades of safe meals can end in a fatal hemolytic crisis
- ✓Inrolled cap edge + brown gills that bruise brown = Paxillus
- ✓Published cases: 72-year-old forager died after 50+ years of eating them
Field Notes
Birch
Found Brown Roll-Rim?
Photograph it and log your observation on iNaturalist. The community can help confirm your ID — always get confirmation before eating.
Safety: Never eat any wild mushroom without 100% certain identification from multiple sources. This page is for informational purposes only. When in doubt, throw it out.