Enoki vs Funeral Bell
Flammulina velutipes compared with Galerina marginata — how to tell them apart in the field.
This is a dangerous confusion.
At least one of these species is potentially deadly. Never eat a wild mushroom based on a photo comparison alone — verify with local experts.
How to Tell Them Apart
A critically dangerous look-alike that also grows on wood and has a similar tawny-brown cap. Key differences: Galerina has a ring on the stem (Flammulina does not), Galerina has a brown spore print (Flammulina is white), and Galerina lacks the distinctive dark velvety stem base. Galerina contains amatoxins and is potentially lethal. Always check for the velvety stem and take a spore print.
Side-by-Side Identification
| Trait | Enoki | Funeral Bell |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | 2-7 cm across. Convex to flat. Color ranges from honey-yellow to tawny-orange to deep reddish-brown, darkest in the center. Surface is distinctly slimy/viscid when wet, smooth and shiny when dry. Margin is sometimes faintly striate (showing faint lines from the gills below). | 1.5-5 cm across. Convex when young, flattening with age. Honey-brown to tawny when moist, drying to a pale tan from the center outward (hygrophanous). Smooth, slightly sticky when wet. Margin often shows faint striations when moist. |
| Gills | Adnate to slightly adnexed (broadly attached to the stem). White to pale yellowish. Moderately spaced. Relatively broad for the size of the mushroom. | Attached to slightly decurrent. Crowded, yellowish-brown becoming rusty brown as spores mature. Edges may appear slightly lighter. |
| Stem | 3-8 cm tall, 3-8 mm thick. The defining feature: covered in dense, dark brown to black velvety hairs (tomentum), especially from the base upward. The upper portion near the gills may be paler, yellowish. Tough, wiry, somewhat cartilaginous. Older specimens have very dark, almost black stems. | 3-8 cm tall, 3-8 mm thick. Pale above the ring, darker brown below. Has a fragile, membranous ring (annulus) that often darkens with deposited spores. Base may have whitish mycelial threads. |
| Spore print | White to pale cream. | Rusty brown to orange-brown — a critical identification feature that separates it from Psilocybe species (which have purple-brown to black spore prints). |
| Odor | Mild, pleasant. Not strongly distinctive. | Mealy or flour-like when fresh. Some describe it as faintly earthy. |
| Habitat | Saprobic and weakly parasitic on dead and dying hardwoods. Strongly associated with elm (Ulmus), willow (Salix), poplar (Populus), and ash (Fraxinus). Found on stumps, fallen logs, standing dead trees, and wounds on living trees. Often in riparian areas and urban settings where these host trees are common. | Strictly saprotrophic — feeds on dead and decaying wood. Found on logs, stumps, buried roots, and wood chip mulch. Prefers conifer wood but also appears on hardwoods. Common in forests, parks, gardens, and landscaped areas with wood chip beds. |
| Season | Late autumn through early spring: November through March in the Northern Hemisphere. One of the few mushrooms that fruits actively during winter. Can survive freezing and resume growth during thaws. Peak fruiting during mild spells in December through February. | Fruits from spring through late autumn, with peak fruiting in September-November in temperate regions. Can appear year-round in mild, wet climates like the Pacific Northwest. |
Found one of these in the wild? Don't rely on memory — identify it from a photo with Orangutany and check it against both species before you touch it.