The caps, fried in hot buttered pan, are unexcelled.
Equally fine in croquettes and patties.
** Gills yellow, then rust-color.
Pholiota adiposa.
About natural size.
P. adipo´sa Fr.—adeps, fat. Pileus fleshy, firm, at first hemispherical or subconical, then convex, very viscid or glutinous when moist, scaly, yellow. Flesh whitish. Gills close, adnate, yellowish becoming rust-color with age. Stem equal or slightly thickened at the base, scaly below the slight radiating floccose ring, solid or stuffed, yellow, generally rust-color at the base. Spores elliptical, 7.6×5µ.
The Fat pholiota is a showy species. Its tufted mode of growth, rather large size, yellow color and rusty-brown scales make it a noticeable object. The stem is somewhat and the cap very viscid when moist, and this viscidity when dry gives it a shining appearance. The scales of the cap become erect or reflexed and sometimes appear blackish at the tips. They sometimes disappear with age. The flesh is firm and white or whitish. The gills when young are yellow or pale-yellow, but when mature they assume a ferruginous or rusty color like that of the spores. The stem is similar in color to the cap, but paler or nearly white at the top and usually reddish-brown or rusty-brown at the base. The collar is slight and often scarcely noticeable in mature specimens.
The Cap is 2–4 in. broad, the Stem 2–4 in. long and 4–6 lines thick. The plants commonly grow in tufts on stumps or dead trunks of deciduous trees in or near woods. They may be found from September to November. It is well to peel the caps before cooking. This species is not classed as edible by European authors, but I find its flavor agreeable and its substance digestible and harmless. Peck, 49th Rep. N.Y. State Bot.
Spores 8×5µ W.G.S.; elliptical, ferruginous, 7×3µ Massee.