Honey Fungus

Cap: 3.5–12 cm, convex, often with squarish sides, when young; expanding to broadly convex or nearly flat in age; dry or slightly tacky; golden yellow when young and fresh, but soon fading to yellowish or brownish; bald, or with a few tiny, yellow to brownish scales concentrated near the center and vaguely radially arranged; the margin sometimes becoming finely lined with maturity.

Gills: Attached to the stem or beginning to run down it; close; short-gills frequent; whitish, sometimes discoloring or spotting pinkish to brownish; covered by a pastel yellow to whitish partial veil before the cap expands.

Stem: 7–20 cm long; 0.5–2 cm thick; equal above, but tapering to base due to the clustered growth pattern; fairly tough; often bald at maturity, but with whitish to pastel yellow flocculence from the veil when young; whitish to faintly pinkish near apex; becoming grayish to brownish below; with a thin but fairly persistent, white ring that usually features a pastel yellow edge.

Flesh: Whitish to very slightly pinkish; unchanging when sliced.