Deadly GalerinaGalerina marginata

Mushroom ID is a rule-out game. Every entry below describes a species that looks similar — learn the differences before you put one in a basket.

Honey MushroomArmillaria mellea

✓ Edible

☠️ Lethal if confused

Honey mushrooms have WHITE SPORE PRINTS, cream gills, and grow in big clusters from wood with a distinctive ring. Deadly galerinas have RUST-BROWN SPORE PRINTS, brown gills, and grow singly or in small groups ON THE SAME WOOD. Always take a spore print before eating honeys.

Liberty CapPsilocybe semilanceata

⚠️ Toxic

☠️ Lethal if confused

Both are small brown-capped mushrooms, but deadly galerina grows on WOOD with a distinctive ring on the stem and RUST-BROWN spores. Liberty caps grow in GRASS with no ring and PURPLE-BLACK spores. Substrate + spore color separate them.

🌳 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.

Rotting Wood

Saprobic substrate

Saprobic substrate

Decomposing wood of unspecified species — substrate for many generalist saprobic mushrooms.

Habitat

Grows on decaying hardwood and conifer logs and buried wood. Common across temperate forests worldwide. Autumn primarily; some year-round fruiting in mild climates.

Growing Requirements

Commonly Mistaken For

Species people confuse with this one — often the edible they were hunting for. Each is tagged with its own edibility; Deadly Galerina is the dangerous one.

Identification Tips

• ✓Take a spore print on every small brown mushroom on wood — galerina is rust-brown
• ✓Bruise test: galerina does NOT stain blue; psilocybes do
• ✓Never eat Galerina regardless of preparation — amatoxins are not destroyed by cooking, drying, or fermentation
• ✓Same medical emergency as death cap — call Poison Control and head to ER