PLEASE NOTE: This post is intended for sharing fun and interesting facts on mushrooms. It is NOT INTENDED to be used as a guide for identifying edible mushrooms!

Hi everyone and welcome back! Wow, it is a cold day once again. It was -20F (-28C) this morning and it just felt like a January day instead of mid March. Tonight is going to be just as cold, or even colder, but then it should get milder for a few days later this week, though back to cold again next week. But maybe not quite so cold as it is now.

Anyway, speaking of mushrooms, I should be, after all, that’s what this post is all about. And today we have a sort of interesting looking mushroom, the Scaly Pholiota. It is quite a beautiful mushroom and can be found singly or in clusters around stumps or living and dead trees. They can be found around hardwoods and conifers and here I have found them mainly under conifers such as white pine, red pine and spruce.

Scaly Pholiota.

They are quite common and can be found from late summer to late fall. We have several pholiota species of mushrooms in our area and they are one of the more interesting looking mushrooms. The cap can be anywhere from 2 to 7 inches (5 to 18cm) wide. The stem can be up to 4 inches (10cm) tall and about half an inch (about 15mm) wide.

There are similar mushrooms that are considered edible, but care must be taken, as these mushrooms are NOT EDIBLE and can CAUSE SERIOUS GASTROINTESTINAL DISTRESS. That is all for today, I hope you enjoyed the brief look at this mushroom, have a great week and God bless!

Steve. ©2026 Steve McLeod.