Pholiota alnicola, also known as Alder Scalycap, has a yellow or yellowish-green cap with lemon-yellow gills that turn cinnamon over time. It also features a ring zone on the stem. This mushroom typically grows solitary or in clusters on dead or dying deciduous trees, particularly alder or birch, often in damp environments.

Cap bright yellow, occasionally with a hint of olive at the edge. It starts off convex and eventually flattens out. The surface is mostly smooth but may have pale velar remnants near the margin. When wet, it appears greasy, but it becomes dry when dry. The flesh is firm and yellow. Gills are adnate to slightly decurrent, whitish or pale yellow at first, later becoming dirty brownish yellow or rusty brown. They are at first covered by a quickly disappearing, whitish to yellowish partial veil. Stem yellow toward the top and rusty brown toward the base. It has mostly a ring zone resulting from the partial veil. Spore print reddish-brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores are ellipsoidal and smooth, measuring 8.5-11.5 x 5-5.5μm, and they have a noticeable germ pore.

Synonyms: Flammula alnicola is a synonym of Pholiota alnicola.

Pholiota alnicola on the First Nature Web site.
Pholiota alnicola on the MushroomExpert.Com Web site.