March Mushroom of the Month:
Tubaria furfuracea // Scurfy Twiglet
This small but charming little brown mushroom (LBM) is much more common than most people realize—because they just don't notice them! This tiny saprobic fungus fruits on wood chips, twigs, and woody debris, often appearing in areas like landscaped gardens, mulched flower beds, and park trails. The "furfuracea" in its name means "scurfy" or "covered with scales," referring to the fine, almost downy coating on its cap when young.
What makes this mushroom particularly interesting (and there’s not much) is its ability to fruit prolifically in urban environments where wood chip mulch is abundant, and that it also tends to start fruiting in late winter before most of the other macro fungi start popping up. While many fungi struggle in heavily landscaped areas, T. furfuracea thrives there, sometimes appearing in impressive troops after rain or thaw. The caps are typically only 1-3 cm across with a cinnamon-brown to ochre color that fades as they dry.
Despite being incredibly common, Tubaria furfuracea is often overlooked or misidentified because it looks similar to several other small brown mushrooms, including species of Galerina (some of which are deadly poisonous). Two of the key differences include Tubaria's scurfy cap surface and their preference for well-decayed wood and chips rather than logs. It's a perfect example of how the most abundant fungi often go unnoticed simply because they're small and "plain"—but they're doing important work by breaking down woody debris all around us!
Text by Liz Weinstein. Photo by Will Yaeger, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
