The velvet foot or velvet shank mushroom: Flammulina velutipes. Identification tips and toxic look-a-likes

Caution: this is NOT A BEGINNER's mushroom.

This mushroom cannot be positively identified by observing features alone. A spore print must be made for positive identification. This mushroom has many lookalikes, some of which are deadly, others will make you sick. Use the following tips as a guideline only, but confirmer your identification with other reliable sources and a trusted local expert.

As always, it's your responsibility to make 100% sure of any while plant or mushroom you consume.

Identification difficulty level: Intermediate

Flammulina velutipes, commonly known as the velvet foot, velvet shank, velvet stem, or winter mushroom, is officially a cold-weather fruiting fungus, which can be harvested even in the dead of winter in some places. This makes it a great find for winter survivalists, or for any forager who just can't get enough, and wants to hunt year round.

Cultivated Flammulina velutipes, called enoki mushrooms.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia user Chris 73, via Wikipedia Commons

Do you know the enoki mushroom?

If you know the skinny white enoki mushrooms you buy in the store, then you actually know the velvet shank, kind of. The enoki is also Flammulina velutipes, but it's cultivated in very specific ways, to make it look, and in many ways taste, like a different mushroom. By growing it in complete darkness, it turns white instead of cinnamon brown, and forcing the stems to grow long and skinny keeps them tender, where in the wild they are tough and chewy. 

Despite the more tender texture of the cultivated variety, I GREATLY prefer the stronger, more umami flavor of the wild version. When cultivated they become tender and mild, but wild they are a very exciting mushroom, with a very meaty texture and a buttery, nutty flavor. 

Keep reading to learn more on how to accurately identify the velvet foot mushroom, and avoid the very similar-looking, DEADLY Galerina.

Where and when to find velvet foot mushrooms:

The only North American map for this mushroom I can find states that it grows in Southeastern Canada, Northeast US, Northern Midwest US, parts of Northern California, in the Appalachians and in the Rocky Mountains.

However, I know this map to be incomplete, as I have personally foraged these in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, and heard reliable reports of them from the Pacific Northwest. Since I've only found it in a couple of areas of Texas (so far), it's very possible that the mushroom was transplanted here on living trees as part of landscaping. However, I would use the above list as a rule-of-thumb, and be extra cautious about mushrooms you find in other parts of the US and Canada. 

Earlier I said "officially" a cold-weather fungus, definitions of cold vary. It's true that it's been reported in the Midwest in the dead of winter, with temperatures below freezing. I've found it in the Northeast in December, with temps at or around freezing. But I most recently found it in Texas, after a week of weather no lower than the mid-50s, and as high as the mid-60s. It's always reported from late November through March, wherever it's found. I wonder if cold has less to do with when this mushroom fruits, and if in fact, it's responding to low light levels?

Even when smaller than a pencil eraser, the bright orange color of velvet foot can help you find it, so you can come back and harvest at a larger size. 

Velvet foot mushroom identification:

Growth pattern and habitat:

Clustered growth on wood, living or dead, is essential for identification

This particular species only grows on wood. 

That helps distinguish it from other little brown mushrooms. The tree can be alive or dead, but when I find it on dead wood, it's most often on tree remains that are fairly recently deceased, and still have some bark. You can also find them growing from underground tree roots, but I would avoid these, if you can't find a stump, because they are then easier to confuse with potentially poisonous terrestrial mushrooms.

The growth should also be clustered. 

Clustered growth means that several mushrooms should have their stem fuse at the base. This fusion might happen beneath the surface of the wood. Be very cautious of "lone wolf" mushrooms. Though the velvet shank can grow by itself, it's highly unusual to find it that way and much easier to confuse it with dangerous mushrooms that way.

Cap features, appearance and texture:

Fresh mushroom caps have a graduated color, and are slimy or sticky when wet

The mushrooms should have fairly bright reddish or orangish brown caps, that are lighter or yellow on the outer edges. As the mushrooms age and mature, they will become solidly red-orange; this also happens when the caps are exposed to a lot of sunlight. 

Because of the sticky nature of the cap, its very common to find dirt, pine needles, leaf bits and other debris "stuck" on the caps. These rinse off easily when the cap is wetted and once again slimy. 

In addition, the cap surfaces should be bright and shiny looking when there has been any moisture at all: rain, dew, snow melt, etc. If you touch the caps, they should be rather sticky, even a touch slimy if the rain has been recent. 

When it has been very dry, caps will look matte or velvety,
but they will again become slimy or  sticky if you wet them. 

If it has been very dry the caps should look like they have a matte or velvety finish, but they should get slimy and shiny once again if you put a little moisture on them.  

When young, velvet foot caps are convex, meaning they roll down at the sides (towards the stalk). As the mushroom matures, the cap flattens out, allowing it to disperse its spores, but the caps will never become vase or funnel shaped. Velvet foot is a medium-small mushroom, with a cap diameter of about 2" to 2.5" (rarely 3") at maturity.  

Beware of dull brown mushrooms, as they could be deadly Galerina mushrooms: Galerina marginata (formerly known as G. autumnalis). However, sometimes Galerinas are tawny or bright golden as well, and while they are usually dull, they can appear shiny right after the dew, or in any damp environment. 

Stem features:

The velvet foot gets it's name from the appearance of it's stem. At maturity, the stems should be very dark, black or nearly so, and they should have a velvety coating or texture, which may appear as a whitish down, but NOT as white scales or patches. The photo above is an "ideal" stem.

When a little younger, the stems will be more of a light to dark gradient, and the velvety coating will be less obvious. The inside of the stem will also be less solid.

The stems are moderately thin compared to the caps, about 1/8 the diameter of the cap. Beware of very thin stems, as they are extremely likely to be a different mushroom. The stem is also "sturdy" in feel, and white and solid or slightly translucent and yellow on the inside. If the stem is flimsy, looks watery or is filled with cottony material, you have the wrong mushroom. 

Velvet foot stems do NOT have scales and do NOT have rings or ring zones (a circular band around the stem where a ring once was). Velvet shank stems are smooth, except for the slight velvet.

Spore print:

A spore print is the only way to 100% confirm that you do not have deadly Galerina mushrooms or poisonous Psilocybe species, or poisonous sulphur tuft mushroom (Hypholoma fasciculare) -- more on these species later

A velvet shank will have a pure white spore print.

Sustainable harvesting and eating velvet foot mushrooms:

I love these mushrooms, I love them so much. They are honestly one of my favorite finds. 

Velvet foot mushrooms will come back for 2-3 years after a tree dies, especially if they were present on the tree before death. 

If they weren't found on the living tree, and only on the stump, you may only get 1-2 years of harvest of them. 

Once the stump is pretty well broken down (cracking apart and crumbling), these mushrooms will stop fruiting as their food source will be gone. 

Unlike the cultivated enoki version, which has long, soft, white stems, the stems of the wild velvet foot are tough and fibrous, not really fit for eating. Generally people only harvest the caps.

You can still pick the stems, if you like, and use them for a stock, but the flavor of the stems isn't particularly strong, and needs to be mixed with other mushroom or vegetables to make a good stock. 

The caps, on the other hand, are fantastic. They have a great meaty texture, and a wonderful buttery-nutty flavor. They do hold a little bit of their sliminess in dishes, especially in soups, so are best cooked dry. A sauté, fried, oven-roasted or grilled in a grill basket are all excellent ways to prepare this mushroom. They also make an amazing pizza topping, though I recommend sautéing first. 

Velvet cap lend themselves to preservation by drying. 

As with most mushrooms, picking the mushroom doesn't hurt the actual organism, called mycelium, which lives inside the wood. However, picking the mushrooms does hurt the mushrooms chances of reproducing. You can mitigate some of this by only picking full-sized specimens with flat or nearly flat caps, that have already released spores. Fortunately, velvet foot is one of those mushrooms that tastes great even past the baby button stage, and you maximize your yield when you harvest full-sized caps. 

Also, the mushrooms are generally heavy fruiters. You can opt to leave 1-2 caps per cluster alone, ensuring they complete their reproductive cycle. 

Potential look-a-like species:

Deadly Galerinas (deadly):

The most dangerous mushroom for you to look out for when foraging velvet foot mushrooms is the DEADLY Galerina: Galerina marginata, which is found both in North America and Europe, possibly in other areas as well. 

G. marginata is a great imitator of edible mushrooms. It's almost a shape-shifter, appearing in so many different forms that it was originally considered to be 4 different species: Galerina autumnalis, Galerina oregonensis, Galerina unicolor, and Galerina venenata. Some field guides might still list these older names. 

Because of this, it's hard to truly know Galerina marginata by sight. 

Here are some of the features, both variable and static, of deadly Gallerias.:

• The cap color ranges from bright gold to pale gold, (like a honey mushroom) to tawny tan-brown, (like a ringless honey) to orange-brown (like a velvet foot), to milk chocolate brown. 
• The caps can be solid-colored, or they can be darker in the middle and lighter at the edges, OR they can be darker at the edges, and lighter in the middle. 
• The stem starts out as white or cream (like a honey mushroom), but quickly darkens to a tan or brown, and even gets black in old age (like a velvet foot). 
• The stem starts out with a small ring (again, like a honey mushroom), but the ring is soft and flimsy, and often falls off or washes away--making it resemble a ringless honey mushroom or a velvet foot. 
• G. marginata can grow in clusters (with the stems connected at the base), or individually, or as individuals growing so closely together they appear to be clustered. 
• Deadly gallerias are most often a fall, early winter and early spring mushroom, running from September through November (into early January in warmer climates) and picking up again in March through April. However, they can occasionally be found throughout spring, summer and into early winter. 
  
  
  
• G. marginata have gills that are fairly widely spaced, and attach to the stem. However, this attachment can be just touching the stem or it can be decurrent (running down the stem). 
• Galerinas have RUSTY to WARM BROWN spore prints. Officially called a "rusty brown", to help distinguish it from a Pholiota species, which have chocolate brown spore prints, I have found a great deal of overlap in the colors. Galerina spore prints don't always have the rusty shades. 
• G. marginata grows on wood, (logs, stumps and wood chips), however other species of Galerina (some equally deadly) can be found growing on the ground. 

The highly variable nature of the deadly Galerina makes it impossible to safely rule out by any other means than a spore print, unless you are very familiar with the species you are harvesting. 

This post doesn't do justice to the wide range of G. marginata appearances. You should check out mushroomexpert.com for more images.

The deadly Galerina is, of course, deadly. The toxin responsible is an Amatoxin. As with all Amatoxin poisonings, this mushroom poisoning produces no symptoms until it's too late to pump the stomach.

6+ hours after eating, when the mushroom hits the intestines and it's too late to vomit it up, the victim experiences vomiting, diarrhea (sometimes bloody), and stomach cramps which can last for hours. If you suspect you may have eaten a poisonous mushroom, and you have these symptoms, it's important to go to the hospital immediately, as they can take steps to protect you against what happens next. 

The symptoms will appear to go away, but this is only because they have moved from the GI tract into the liver--which removes toxins from the body. While there, they damage liver tissue. The liver then passes the Amatoxin to the kidneys to be excreted (the kidneys also become damaged), which DON'T pass them from the body. Instead they cycle them back to the liver. Without treatment, death will occur from liver or kidney failure 3-14 days after ingestion. 

Treatment includes kidney dialysis (which may need to be life-long), and is not always effective. Extract of milk thistle has been shown to help dramatically in preventing damage (when used early) but is only approved officially in Europe. American doctors can apply for permission to use it on their patients, but this process takes time. If you or someone you know may have ingested Amatoxins, it's imperative to get treatment immediately. 

Sulphur tufts (poisonous):

The sulphur tuft, Hypholoma fasciculare (Naematoloma fasciculare in older field guides), is another wood-growing mushroom that forms clustered growth. Like velvet foot mushrooms, sulphur tufts have graduated cap colors, usually ranging from yellow or cream at the edge to orange or tawny brown in the middle. Like the velvet foot, sulphur tufts prefer cooler weather and are generally found throughout the fall, and into early winter in warmer climates. 

While not generally considered deadly, H. fasciculare produces extreme GI problems, including vomiting, diarrhea (often bloody), cramping, profuse sweating and even convulsions. Symptoms may last for days, and can be extremely dangerous in the very young, the elderly and those with medical conditions. It's recommended to receive medical treatment if you inject this mushroom, to prevent dangerous dehydration or physical harm from convulsing. Symptoms start 6+ hours after eating, which is again, unfortunately too late to pump the stomach. There is no cure for this mushroom poisoning, and the only treatment is of the symptoms, until the toxins pass. 

Officially the gills of this species are yellow-green, but more often than not they are some other color. Sulphur tufts have dark purple-brown spore prints, and doing a spore print is the safest way of ruling this mushroom out. 

Jack-o-Lantern mushrooms (poisonous):

You are unlikely to confuse Jack-o-Lantern mushrooms, Omphalotus species, with velvet foot, as Jacks are generally much larger (6-8" caps at maturity), their stems are orange or yellow (not dark) and they generally fruit earlier in the year (late summer to mid-fall). 

They do vaguely resemble velvet foot in that they are bright orange/yellow on the cap, grow on wood and have white spore prints.

Like other poisonous mushrooms mentioned here, Omphalotus species are extreme sickeners, causing vomiting, diarrhea, and cramping, which can last for hours or a couple of days. 

Psilocybe species, "blue stainers" (poisonous/hallucinogenic):

Members of the genus Psilocybe can also be confused with velvet foot mushrooms. Though commonly called "blue stainers", it's important to know that not all species stain blue. Psilocybe mushrooms are also small, tawny-brown capped wood-lovers, thought their stems are generally light colored. Some Psilocybe mushrooms contain hallucinogenic toxins, and are unlawful to possess. 

In addition, many people have been poisoned by Galerina species while thinking they have Psilocybe mushrooms. 

This genus can be ruled out by a spore-print. Though the spore print on Psilocybe species ranges dramatically, it's never pure white. 

Gymnopilus species, "laughing gyms" and others (possibly poisonous/hallucinogenic):

The genus Gymnopilus contains many individual species of mushrooms which haven't been comprehensively studied for their edibility. Some are known to be hallucinogenic, most are exceedingly bitter. Many species of Gymnopilus are wood-loving, and some have red-orange-yellow caps. As a general rule, they are larger and more robust than velvet foot, they don't have dark stems, and they do have rings around the stem. Gymnopilus should be avoided by all but an expert, as they are very easily confused with Cortinarius species, many of which are unstudied and many of which are deadly. 

You can easily rule out Gymnopilus with a spore print, Gyms have orange or brown-orange spores, not white. 

Pholiota species (probably non-poisonous):

Pholiota species are another genus of highly variable-looking mushrooms that grow on wood and often have yellow-to-orange-to-brown caps, that are about the same size as the velvet foot. Some species also have sticky/slimy cap surfaces. Some species are edible, most are non-poisonous but not edible, and some are mild to moderate sickeners. 

The easiest to identify, the scaly Pholiota, was once considered edible, but is now generally considered mildly poisonous. None of the edible species are an easy or intermediate identification, and all should be avoided except by advanced or expert mushroom foragers. They closely resemble deadly Galerinas.

Pholiota species are easily ruled out with a spore print, as they have medium or chocolate brown spores. 

Hypholoma capnoides (edible):

Closely resembling to the sulphur tuft, H. capnoides is its edible cousin. Despite being edible, H. capnoides should be avoided by all but advanced foragers, as it's very easy to confuse with H. fasciculare. H. capnoides has a dark, purple-brown spore print. 

Honey mushrooms and ringless honey mushrooms (edible -- with caution):

Ringed honey mushrooms

Ringless honey mushrooms

The honey mushrooms, Armillaria species, are similar to the velvet foot in many ways. Armillaria species grow on wood, have clustered growth, white spore prints, and are about the same size as the velvet foot. 

Some species have yellow caps, though they never display the flame-orange shades you often (but not always) find on the velvet foot. 

There are several ways to distinguish honey mushrooms from velvet cap mushrooms. 

Most honey mushroom species (except one) have a white, cottony ring around the stem of the mushroom, near the top. 

The one exception, the ringless honey mushroom, Armillaria tabescens, is never yellow or gold or orange in shade, always tawny, tan or brown. The ringless honey also always has dark "tufts" in the center of the cap. 

To learn about identifying ringless honey mushrooms, check out my post. 

The stems of all honey mushrooms are also white, cream or tan, never black and never velvety. 

Honey mushrooms are edible, but with caution. Many people will experience gastric upset if these mushrooms aren't extremely well-cooked. When eating honey mushrooms I first boil them, and then cook them again however I like.