Smell

Honey

The smell of honey in an autumn forest is always a pleasant surprise. A honey aroma isn't as common in mushrooms as a mealy or mushroomy one, but it does occur in several very well-known genera. It is often combined with a smell of wax or a meadow in bloom.

1 species in the database.

Death cap
Amanita phalloides
Deadly poisonous

Honey fungus: the name or the smell?

In English-language literature (David Arora's included), the autumn honey fungus (Armillaria mellea) is called exclusively "Honey fungus". The Latin word mellea also translates as "honey-colored".

M.Ya. Zerova notes in her works that the name originally referred to the color of the cap (which often has a golden honey tint). Still, many foragers claim that freshly picked young honey fungus, gathered in large quantities, really does have a light, sweetish, waxy honey aroma.

Webcaps and other "honey" mushrooms

Roger Phillips describes a more pronounced honey smell in other species:

1. Webcaps (Cortinarius): Some species of this huge genus (for example, Cortinarius melleopallens) have a very intense sweet smell reminiscent of honey or honeycomb. Since many webcaps are poisonous, experimenting with picking them just because of a pleasant smell is very dangerous.

2. Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius): Although its smell is most often described as "apricot" or "fruity", when overripe or slightly dried it often takes on rich honey notes.

3. Plums and custard (Tricholomopsis rutilans): This bright mushroom, which grows on pine stumps, sometimes has a sweetish smell reminiscent of overripe plums or crystallized honey.

Questions and answers

If a mushroom smells strongly of honey, does that mean it tastes sweet?

No, smell and taste rarely match in mushrooms. Even mushrooms with a strong honey or anise aroma have an ordinary (sometimes slightly bitter or bland) mushroom taste once cooked, since their flesh contains very little sugar.

Are there poisonous mushrooms that smell of honey?

Among webcaps there are dangerous species with a sweetish, honey or floral smell. In addition, the death cap (Amanita phalloides) can have a very delicate, sweet aroma when young, which some describe as honey-like. So a sweet smell is never a guarantee of edibility.

Does honey fungus keep its honey smell when pickled?

No. The light honey aroma of autumn honey fungus is very volatile. It disappears completely during the boiling before pickling.

Sources

1.Зерова М.Я. та ін. Визначник грибів України. 1979
2.Roger Phillips. Mushrooms (Roger Phillips)
3.David Arora. Mushrooms Demystified
4.Index Fungorum