🍄 Velvet Shank – The Winter Delicacy
Flammulina velutipes – better known as Velvet Shank, due to its velvety textured stem. It also goes by the names, Velvet Foot, Winter Fungus, and Enoki. One of the few edible mushrooms that are out in the Winter months, and one that I am always excited to see. When wet, the cap of this mushroom takes on a shiny appearance and a slimy texture. You would be forgiven for giving it a pass in this state. However, if you can get past the way it feels, you will be pleasantly surprised by the way it tastes! When commercially farmed, this mushroom can grow long, thin, and white, and is used in East Asian cuisine. While you can buy these Enoki in shops, give our humble wild species a try, and you'll look forward to Winter every year.
🍄 Key Identification Features:
- Cap: Orange-brown convex cap with slimy texture when wet. Width: 2 to 10cm.
- Gills: Off-white to light brown, adnexed (narrowly attached to stipe)
- Stem: Velvety textured stem. Starts yellow-orange changing to dark brown.
- Smell: No distinctive smell.
- Spore print: White.
🍃 Where to Find It:
Found on stumps and trunks of dead hardwood trees, especially beech and elm. Occasionally found on diseased trees. Beech trees are the dominant trees in woodlands of South and Central England, so if you are local to those regions, you will have an easier time spotting this mushroom. Likely to be found in tiers when growing on trunks, and in clusters when growing out of stumps (keep an eye out for the funny-shaped squashed caps!)
⚠️ Lookalikes:
- Galerina marginata– also known as the Funeral Bell, it is deadly poisonous. Look out for it's brown non-slimy/shiny cap, and rusty brown spores.
Use all ID features in combination, and when in doubt – leave it out or get a second opinion from someone experienced.
🍽️ Culinary Uses:
This is a choice edible mushroom. The caps can be flash fried and added on top of noodle dishes. Or cooked in with soup dishes. The stems of this fungus are too tough to be of use.
So there you have it – a fun and tasty treat to forage in the Winter months! Get out there, trust your eyes, and getting spotting those beech trees.
Have you met this mushroom in the wild? Found a dish it is delicious in? Reply in the comments below, tag us on social media, or drop us an email - we’d love to see your finds and creations.