COMMON NAME: Old Man of the Woods.

CAP: (3-15.5 cm) wide, convex, becoming broadly convex and finally flattened in age; surface dry, with a whitish to grayish ground color, covered with coarse, woolly or cottony, flattened or erect, gray to purplish gray or blackish scales; margin bearing cottony pieces of grayish, torn partial veil; flesh nearly white, quickly staining orange-red to orange, then black when cut or bruised; odor and taste not distinctive.

PORE SURFACE: white when young, soon gray, finally black, staining reddish, then black when bruised; pores angular, 1-2 mm wide.

STALK: (4-12 cm) long, (1-2.5 cm) thick, nearly equal, sometimes enlarged at the base, dry, solid; flesh whitish quickly staining reddish orange, then black when exposed; reticulate at the apex above the ring, shaggy below the ring; partial veil cottony to woolly, grayish, leaving one or more rings or shaggy zones on the stalk.

SPORE PRINT: black.

MICROSCOPIC FEATURES: spores 9.5-15 x 8.5-12 μm, short elliptic to globose, covered by a distinct reticulum, grayish.

FRUITING: solitary to scattered on the ground in mixed woods; June-October; fairly common.

EDIBILITY: edible.

COMMENTS: Strobilomyces confusus (edible) has a slightly smaller cap, up to (12 cm) wide, with smaller, erect, often stiff and pointed scales and spores with irregular projections and short ridges that resemble a partial reticulum.

From Mushrooms of Northeastern North America Alan E. Bessette, Arleen R. Bessette, & David W. Fischer  Copright © 1997 Syracuse University, ISBN 0-8156-0388-6