Funeral Bell vs Golden Trumpet
Galerina marginata compared with Xeromphalina campanella — 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 critical distinction. Galerina marginata also grows on rotting wood in clusters and has a brownish cap, but it has a ring on the stem, brown spores (not white), and a more brown rather than golden-orange color. Contains deadly amatoxins. If in doubt, check for a ring and take a spore print. This is why golden trumpets should never be eaten even if you think you have identified them correctly.
Side-by-Side Identification
| Trait | Funeral Bell | Golden Trumpet |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | 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. | 0.5-2.5 cm across. Bell-shaped to convex, becoming flatter with age. Thin and somewhat translucent. Golden orange to tawny, sometimes yellowish, paler and more striate (showing radiating lines) toward the margins. Surface is smooth and dry. |
| Gills | Attached to slightly decurrent. Crowded, yellowish-brown becoming rusty brown as spores mature. Edges may appear slightly lighter. | Decurrent (running down the stem). Widely spaced, yellowish to pale orange. Connected by cross-veins that form a visible network between the main gills. This cross-vein feature is a useful identification aid under a hand lens. |
| Stem | 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. | 1-3 cm tall, very thin (1-2 mm). Wiry, tough, and curved. Dark brown to blackish at the base, becoming yellowish toward the cap. Covered in fine hairs at the base. Grows directly from rotting wood. |
| Spore print | Rusty brown to orange-brown — a critical identification feature that separates it from Psilocybe species (which have purple-brown to black spore prints). | White to pale buff. |
| Odor | Mealy or flour-like when fresh. Some describe it as faintly earthy. | Mild, not distinctive. |
| Habitat | 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. | Exclusively on decaying conifer wood, especially spruce, pine, fir, and hemlock. Grows on logs, stumps, fallen branches, and buried wood in various stages of decomposition. Saprotrophic. Fruits in very dense clusters, often covering entire log surfaces. |
| Season | 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. | May through November, with peak fruiting in summer and early autumn. Can persist for weeks due to the tough, wiry texture of the fruiting bodies. |
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.