| Ecology & Habitat | Mycorrhizal, Growing Singly, or Gregariously/Trooping (a large group in small area) Found in Hardwood forests, often near oak trees. |
| Edibility, Taste & Odor | Edible, but not considered a choice edible. |
| Cap | Cap color is blackish brown and grayish to white with scales, bruises yellowish-brown, inner flesh bruises pink, fading to brown. |
| Pores | Pore surface is white to cream, bruising pink, then facing to dark brown to black |
| Partial Veil | White, and fragile. The evidence of a veil is usually only found clinging to the edges of the cap. |
| Spores | blackish-brown to black. |
This edible mushroom, I imagine, is unmistakable. The name Strobilomyces comes from the Greek words strobilos, meaning pinecone. One look at the cap an you can see why. It has a very spikey appearance similar to a pinecone. The cap is a white to light gray with dark gray to black thick shagginess. When young it has a partial veil that is also shaggy like the cap. The stem is similarly colored, and also similarly shaggy. The pore surface is white once the partial veil has fallen away. There are often remnants of the veil on the stem or margins of the cap. The pore surface stains brownish black to the touch, and the spores themselves are brownish black as well. The inner flesh interestingly stains a reddish or pink color, before turning brownish black like the pore surface. An interesting specimen to say the least.
