Leucopaxillus tricolor

After thorough cooking — yes. You MUST boil it for 15–20 min and pour off the first water (to reduce the bitterness and draw out potential irritants). Do NOT eat it raw — it can cause gastrointestinal upset.

It can be confused with some white funnels (Clitocybe). Avoid pure white funnel-shaped mushrooms in meadows — some of them are deadly poisonous (C. dealbata, C. rivulosa). Leucopaxillus tricolor is larger and has a yellowish cap, not a pure white one.

Older deciduous and mixed forests with thick litter. The Carpathians, Prykarpattia, the Forest-Steppe, less often Polissia. It likes oak, beech and hornbeam forests on fertile soils. It often forms "fairy rings".

August — October, peaking in September. It likes a moderately humid, warm autumn. In very dry years it turns up less often. The season lasts 6–8 weeks.

There are several species of Leucopaxillus in Europe. L. giganteus is the largest, pure white, without the three colors. L. tricolor is smaller (though still large), with a characteristic yellowish cap. L. paradoxus is pinkish and rarer. All are edible, but all have a slightly bitter aftertaste.

A ring of fruit bodies is a characteristic feature of the genus Leucopaxillus. The mycelium grows outward from the point of inoculation, forming a ring 1–5 m in diameter. Every year the "ring" widens by 5–20 cm. Once you find one fruit body, look for others along a semicircle or circle.

Pick young ones with closed gills. Peel the stem (it is tough). Boil for 15–20 min and be SURE to pour off the water. Then stew with vegetables in cream or fry with onion as part of a mushroom mix. On its own it is slightly bitter; in a mix it is fine.

Its culinary value is low (bitterness), and the species is moderately rare. As a forest-litter saprotroph, it is an important link in the ecosystem. Better to leave the fruit bodies in nature to release spores and reproduce. Take a photo for iNaturalist — that will do more good.