Summary:
Flammula alnicola is a member of the Flammula malicola group consisting of "scaleless but not veil-less" yellowish to rusty or tawny wood inhabiters, the true Flammula alnicola having a yellowish or olive-tinged cap and a mild to bitter taste, (Arora(1) as Pholiota malicola group). The Smith(3) description from which the one below is derived is from European material. Trudell(4) say (italicizing Latin names) "Recent studies in Europe have shown P. alnicola to be a highly variable species and so several other species, including P. malicola, may merely be variants of it. Pholiota flavida, in its original sense, probably is the same species; however, various authors have used the latter name for seemingly different entities, so use of P. alnicola in its place has been recommended. Pholiota alnicola in a broad sense is widely distributed in the temperate and boreal areas of the Northern Hemisphere."

Gills:
adnate or slightly rounded near stem, close, broad; at first pallid or pale straw-yellow, finally ferruginous to "ochraceous-tawny", (Smith), "slightly adnate"; ochreous brown, pale then rust-colored, (Lincoff), adnate-decurrent continuing as lines on stem top, (Schalkwijk-Barendsen)

Stem:
4-8(12)cm x 0.4-1.2cm, flexuous [wavy], stuffed then hollow; "pale yellow above yellowish becoming brownish from the base up"; fibrillose, (Smith), 4-9cm x 0.4-1.2cm, "tapering toward bottom if tufted, otherwise slightly enlarged, usually curved or supple"; lemon yellow then invariably darkening from base; fibrillose or slightly floccose, (Lincoff), not scaly (Trudell)

Veil:
pallid or white, fleeting, (Smith), "abundant, pale, fibrillose, remaining mostly adherent to cap edge", (Lincoff)

Odor:
mild or fragrant to aromatic, (Smith), "pleasant, with a hint of spun sugar", (Lincoff), some collections have a fragrant odor, "somewhat reminiscent of grapefruit or tangerine, while others have no distinct odor", (Trudell)

Taste:
distinctly bitter when fresh, (Smith), "mild, contrary to the concept formed by some mycologists", (Trudell), bitter (Lincoff), mild to bitter (Arora)

Microscopic spores:
spores 8-10 x 4-5.5 microns, subcymbiform [somewhat boat-shaped] to ovate or more rarely elliptic, (Smith); in side view more or less inequilateral with a broad subhilar depression, smooth, inconspicuous germ pore, dark dull cinnamon in KOH, more rusty-cinnamon in Melzer''s reagent, wall about 0.3 microns thick; basidia 4-spored, 22-30 x (5)6-8 microns, obscurely utriform to clavate, yellowish in KOH and Melzer''s reagent; pleurocystidia none, cheilocystidia 22-46 x 3-6 microns, subutriform, fusoid-ventricose or clavate, wall thin smooth and colorless, content colorless in homogeneous; caulocystidia resembling cheilocystidia but typically more elongated; clamp connections present, (Smith)

Spore deposit:
rust-red (Lincoff), dark rusty brown, (Schalkwijk-Barendsen)

Notes:
Peck reported Pholiota alnicola from NY (Smith(3)). There are several reports from BC including Martin, K.J.(3), and Lowe(1). Schalkwijk-Barendsen(1) reported it from AB although she does not mention taste. Volk(3) reported it from AK. Martin, K.J.(3) reported it also from AB, MB, ON, and SK. The University of Washington has collections from OR, AK, CA, and Sweden.

EDIBILITY

no, too bitter (Lincoff)

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Pholiota alnicola (Fr.) Singer