Shaggy Pholiota (Pholiota squarrosa)

A cluster of Shaggy Pholiotas

The Shaggy Pholiota, otherwise known as the Shaggy Scalycap and Scaly Pholiota, is a parasitic fungus that typically grows in dense clusters at the base of deciduous and occasionally coniferous trees.

All the common names, inevitably, are well-deserved for both the yellowy-brown caps and stems of these fungi are covered in numerous, conspicuously coarse scales.

As with many other fungi, the caps - sometimes 10 centimetres, or so, across, but usually smaller - are initially convex in shape before they eventually expand and flatten, whilst their margin remains inrolled throughout. (Stems may reach a height of 10 - 12 centimetres; gills are close together, initially pale yellow and darker later).

An autumnal, inedible fungus, the Shaggy Pholiota is widely distributed in the New Forest.

Warning: refer to a good, comprehensive fungus field guide to confirm identification, and only eat those species known without any doubt whatsoever to be edible - people have died after eating certain poisonous specimens.

References:
Mushrooms and other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe - Roger Phillips
The Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and North-western Europe - Marcel Bon
Fungi of Britain and Europe - Stefan Buczacki and John Wilkinson
The MacDonald Encyclopedia of Mushrooms and Toadstools - Giovanni Pacioni
Fungi of the New Forest: A Mycota - Edited by Gordon Dickson and Ann Leonard
A Passion for Mushrooms - Antonio Carluccio