Honey fungus or Booted knight

The honey fungus cap is 3–12 cm across. In young mushrooms it is spherical-convex with an inrolled margin; with age it becomes flat and spreading, with a small bump in the middle.

The color varies from honey-yellow and ochre-brown to dark brown with an olive tinge — it depends on the host tree species. The surface is covered with characteristic small dark scales, especially dense in the center. In wet weather the cap is slightly slimy; in dry weather it is dry and matte.

Cap 6-15 cm across, when young convex with an inrolled margin, becoming with age flattened-expanded. The skin is matte, with fine radial fibers. Color: orange-chestnut, ochre-orange, richer in the center, paler toward the margin; in old fruiting bodies, brownish-ochre with rusty spots. The margin is even, with remnants of the ring membrane when young.

The hymenophore has gills. The gills are moderately crowded, thin, attached to the stem by a short tooth or running slightly down it.

In young mushrooms the color is creamy white; with age it darkens to a dirty ochre, often with rusty spore stains. In young mushrooms the veil (velum) covers the hymenophore like a membrane and later remains on the stem as a characteristic white ring — an important diagnostic feature.

Gilled hymenophore — the gills are notched (sinuate) where they attach to the stem, crowded, fleshy. When young they are whitish, becoming with age creamy with rusty spots at the edges. Spore print white — diagnostic (it sets it apart from webcaps, which have a rusty-brown spore print).

The honey fungus stem is slender and tall: 6–15 cm tall, 0.8–2 cm thick. Cylindrical, often slightly curved, a little wider at the base. The upper part is whitish-yellow, darkening to rusty brown toward the base.

The surface is fibrous, covered with small brown scales in the lower part. The ring is the main identifying feature: white, membranous, well-developed, located in the upper third of the stem. There is no volva.

Stem 5-10 cm tall, 1.5-3 cm thick, firm, fleshy, with a distinct membranous ring in the upper third — the main peculiarity for the genus Tricholoma. Color white above the ring, orange-ochre below, matching the cap color. Surface fibrous, scaly-fibrous below the ring.

Flesh thin, white, noticeably fibrous in the stem. It doesn't change color when cut — it stays consistently white or cream. In the cap the flesh is softer and juicy; in the stem it is toughish and often hollow in old specimens.

The raw flesh tastes astringent and bitterish — which is exactly why honey fungus must be boiled before eating. After cooking the bitterness disappears and the flesh takes on a pleasant mushroomy flavor.

Flesh firm, fleshy, whitish, unchanging where cut. Smell distinctly mealy, taste mild at first, then bitterish-mealy, which disappears after boiling.

Fresh honey fungus smells pleasant, light, typically mushroomy — with barely noticeable notes of damp wood and moss. It has none of the sharp sourish or chemical tinges found in false honey fungi — an important safety difference.

The aroma doesn't change when cut. Dried, the mushroom keeps a light mushroomy smell, but because of its high moisture content and thin cap, honey fungus is rarely dried — it is more often pickled or salted.

A distinct mealy smell — a diagnostic feature of the genus, especially clear when cut and in young specimens.