Bright and defiant against the leaf litter, these are Hypholoma fasciculare, known in French as Hypholome en touffes and in Dutch as Zwavelkop. The English name, a hybrid of ‘touffes’ and ‘Zwavel’, Sulphur Tuft, suits them perfectly, clusters of yellow mushrooms glowing like a little fire in the damp wood.
The genus name Hypholoma comes from the Greek hyphē, meaning web or thread, and loma, meaning fringe or border, referring to the cobwebby veil that sometimes clings to the cap edges. The species name fasciculare means ‘growing in bundles’, a fitting description for their crowded habit on rotting stumps and fallen trunks. You may have noticed how on trend ‘fascia’ are in health care and movement.
At first, the caps are rounded and buttery yellow, later flattening to reveal gills that shift from pale to olive-green as the spores darken. The stems are fibrous and streaked, yellow near the top and rusty below, a fine contrast against the moss and beech leaves.
They may look inviting, but Hypholoma fasciculare is one of the more bitter and poisonous woodland fungi, a warning written in its sulphurous colour.
Found in tight clusters, they mark the quiet recycling of wood into soil and are a vivid reminder that even decay can be beautiful.