Funeral Bell
Galerina marginata
Family: Hymenogastraceae
Also called: Funeral Bell, Deadly Galerina, Deadly Skullcap, Autumn Skullcap
Overview
Small tawny-brown ringed mushroom on rotting hardwood and conifer wood across the entire North Temperate zone — Europe, North America, Russia, Japan, Korea. Contains the same amatoxins as Amanita phalloides. The leading deadly look-alike for wood-loving Psilocybe, Pholiota mutabilis (sheathed woodtuft), and small Armillaria. Several fatalities every year from cluster/log foragers; rust-brown spore print is the single most important diagnostic.
Season
May–Oct — typical fruiting months: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct.
Host trees & substrate
- Decaying conifer wood
- Decaying hardwood
Key identification features
- Small tawny-brown to honey cap, hygrophanous (two-tone when drying)
- Persistent ring on a fibrillose stem
- Rust-brown (NOT purple-brown, NOT cinnamon) spore print
- On rotting wood — chips, logs, stumps
- Often in small clusters
Toxic lookalikes
- Sheathed woodtuft (Kuehneromyces mutabilis)deadly
Same habitat. Woodtuft has a cinnamon spore print and a scaly stem below the ring. Several European deaths annually from this confusion.
- Wood-chip Psilocybe (P. cyanescens / ovoideocystidiata / azurescens) (Psilocybe spp.)deadly
Co-occurs on the EXACT same wood chips. Psilocybe spore print is purple-brown to black, Galerina is rusty. Always take a spore print.
- Honey mushroom (young) (Armillaria spp.)deadly
Galerina lacks honey's dark scaly cap centre and white spore print. Never assume — spore-print every clustered ringed wood-loving brown mushroom.
Where it grows
See live fruiting predictions for Funeral Bell on the forecast home page, or browse the full field guide.
Always confirm wild-mushroom identification with multiple sources and a knowledgeable local expert before consuming. Read the foraging safety guide.