Flame Shield

not listed

not listed

not listed

Flame Shield is a beautiful but rare wood-rotting gill mushroom. It occurs in Europe, Japan, South Korea, North America, and Mexico. In North America its range is restricted to the northeast and upper Midwest. It is rare wherever it occurs, including in Minnesota. It is found alone or in small groups on long dead stumps and well-rotted logs and branches of deciduous trees, especially elm but also ash and possibly other hardwoods. It gets its nutrients from decaying wood (saprobic).

The cap is ¾″ to 23 ⁄16″ (20 to 55 mm) in diameter. It is convex and bright orange to orangish-red at first. As it ages fades to orangish-yellow, flattens out and becomes depressed in the middle. Older caps sometimes have a raised bump in the middle (umbonate). The upper surface may be dry or moist, and smooth to the touch or slightly granular, especially near the center. The margin is straight and unlined or only faintly lined (striate).

The stalk is 13 ⁄16″ to 2⅜″ (3 to 6 cm) long and 3 ⁄16″ to ⅜″ (5 to 10 mm) thick. It is whitish to yellowish near the top, flushed with the same color as the cap near the bottom, and covered with ling fibers. The vegetative part of the mushroom (mycelium) is visible at the base of the stalk. The basal mycelium is white or yellowish and woolly.

The gills are broad, closely spaced to nearly crowded, and not attached to the stalk (free). They are whitish at first, often yellowish near the margin, turning pinkish with age. Between the primary gills there are short, secondary gills originating at the margin.

The flesh is white or pale yellow and firm. It does not change color when cut. It is edible but the taste is “not distinctive”. It may contain Psilocybin, a hallucinogenic substance. For this reason, and due to the mushroom’s rarity, collecting is not advised.

The spore print is pink.

Woodlands. Hardwood stumps and logs

Early summer to late fall

Sources

4, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

Rare find in Minnesota!

There were only two, both near each other on same decaying hardwood (hackberry, maple or pine most likely) in the Izaac Walton Wetlands Preserve in SE Minnesota, Olmsted County.

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Location: Washington County

Rare find in Minnesota!

Location: Palmer Lake Park, Minneapolis, MN

Location: Izaac Walton Wetlands Preserve in SE Minnesota, Olmsted County

There were only two, both near each other on same decaying hardwood (hackberry, maple or pine most likely) in the Izaac Walton Wetlands Preserve in SE Minnesota, Olmsted County.