About this fungus
Clustered Bonnet is a fungus in the Mycenaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A medium-sized bonnet growing in dense tufts on dead hardwood, especially oak. The grey-brown caps have lined, often finely scalloped margins above long two-tone stems.
What to check
Check the whole cluster and the stem bases. Stems are pale near the cap, becoming yellow-brown, red-brown or very dark toward a downy base. Young gills are whitish and later become grey, pinkish-grey or brownish. The cap edge is finely scalloped, but microscopy may still be needed among similar bonnets.
Variation
Caps range from pale grey-brown to bay-brown and are usually darker at the centre. The stem colour gradient becomes more obvious with age, while gills lose their initial white colour.
Lookalikes
Common Bonnet can form similar wood-rotting clusters but lacks the same combination of scalloped margin and strongly darkening stem base. Grooved Bonnet has a conspicuously longitudinally grooved stem. Burgundydrop Bonnet releases dark red liquid from damaged tissue. Other Mycena may require microscopy.
Habitat and range
Saprotrophic in dense clusters on decaying hardwood roots, stumps and logs. Oak is the characteristic host in Europe, with chestnut and other broadleaved wood also reported. It is recorded across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and North America.
Food safety
Inedible.
Photographs
Strobilomyces / CC BY-SA 3.0
Dan Molter (shroomydan) / CC BY-SA 3.0Species to compare
Similar mushrooms to compare against: