"Openky" or "pidpenky": the right Ukrainian name for honey fungus

“We picked *openky*” — “No, those are *pidpenky*.” Sound familiar? There's actually nothing to argue about: both names mean the same mushrooms that grow in dense clusters by stumps and at the base of trees.

Let's see where the two words came from.

One name, one mushroom

Both *openky* and *pidpenky* come from the word *penok* (“stump”): mushrooms that grow *o-penky* (around the stump) or *pid-penky* (at the base, under the stump). These aren't two different species but two versions of a folk name for one and the same mushroom.

• *Openky* is the standard literary form used by dictionaries and field guides.
• *Pidpenky* is a colloquial, regional variant common in everyday speech.

So it's more correct to say *openky*, but if people understood you, no harm done.

Which mushrooms we're talking about

Most often, both *openky* and *pidpenky* refer to autumn honey fungus — honey fungus (Armillaria mellea), which fruits en masse in late summer and autumn. But there are several kinds of *openky*: summer, winter, meadow. For the full overview, see our guide to honey fungus species.

What matters is safety, not the name

Whatever you call them, honey fungus has dangerous false lookalikes. Before you put them in your basket, check the features: gill color, the ring on the stem, where it grows. We've written separately about how to tell true honey fungus from false. And when honey fungus season starts — read about it in our seasonal piece.

Sources

• “Identification Guide to the Fungi of Ukraine” (Kyiv, Naukova Dumka publishing house).
• Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language (SUM), entries *openok* and *openky*.
• Armillaria mellea in GBIF, the global biodiversity database.