Brick Cap vs Wine Cap
Hypholoma lateritium compared with Stropharia rugosoannulata — how to tell them apart in the field.
Brick Cap
Hypholoma lateritium
Edible with Caution
Wine Cap / King Stropharia
Stropharia rugosoannulata
Edible
How to Tell Them Apart
Also reddish-capped and found on wood. Smaller (3-8 cm cap), grows in dense clusters on hardwood stumps. Has a mild to slightly bitter taste and lacks the thick cogwheel ring. Spore print is purple-brown. Generally considered edible but inferior.
Side-by-Side Identification
| Trait | Brick Cap | Wine Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | 4–10 cm across, convex when young, flattening with age. Brick-red to reddish-brown, darkest at the center, fading to pale tan or yellowish at the margins. Surface smooth and slightly moist. Young caps often have whitish veil remnants hanging from the edges. The brick-red coloring is the most distinctive feature — Sulphur Tuft is sulfur-yellow, not red. | 5-20 cm across (occasionally larger). Convex, expanding to broadly convex or flat. Deep wine-red to burgundy when young, fading to reddish-brown, tan, or straw-colored with age. Surface is smooth, slightly viscid when wet. Flesh is white, thick, and firm. |
| Gills | Attached to the stem (adnate). Pale yellowish-white when young, becoming olive-grey, then purplish-brown as spores mature. This color progression is important — Sulphur Tuft gills turn greenish-black. Crowded and thin. | Attached (adnate) to slightly free. Pale lilac-gray when young, darkening to dark purple-gray and finally purple-black as spores mature. Crowded and broad. |
| Stem | 5–12 cm tall, 0.5–1.5 cm wide. Pale yellowish above, darkening to rusty brown toward the base. No true ring (annulus), but may have a faint fibrous zone from the partial veil. This is critical: the Funeral Bell has a distinct membranous ring. If you see a proper ring, stop and re-examine. | 6-15 cm tall, 1.5-3 cm thick. White, sturdy, solid when young (becoming hollow with age). Has a distinctive thick, double-edged ring with a grooved or cogwheel pattern on the upper surface. Base often has white rhizomorphs extending into the substrate. |
| Spore print | Purplish-brown to dark purple-grey. | Dark purple-brown to purple-black. |
| Odor | Mild and pleasant, slightly mushroomy. Not distinctive. Importantly, it lacks the unpleasant bitter smell of Sulphur Tuft. | Mild, pleasant, slightly earthy or potato-like. |
| Habitat | Grows exclusively as a saprobe on dead hardwood — stumps, fallen logs, and buried roots of oak, beech, maple, birch, and other deciduous trees. Almost always in dense overlapping clusters of 10–50+ fruiting bodies. Occasionally found on conifer wood but this is unusual. Common in deciduous and mixed forests, parks, and old orchards. | Saprotrophic on wood chips, straw, composted garden debris, and other lignin-rich organic matter. Found in gardens, compost heaps, mulched beds, and agricultural settings. Prefers partially shaded, moist conditions. Widely cultivated in outdoor beds and permaculture gardens. |
| Season | Autumn through early winter, typically September to December. One of the later-fruiting woodland species — often still producing well into November when many other mushrooms have finished. Tolerates light frosts. | Late spring through autumn, with peak fruiting in late spring (May-June) and again in early autumn (September-October) in temperate regions. Cultivation beds may produce flushes from April through November depending on climate and moisture. |
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.