This fungus favours south facing situations on chalk soils, usually with Birch but also with Beech.
Prefers chalk soil with Birch scrub but also found in Beech woods.
The cap of this fungus is initially white with numerous small scales concentrated at the centre and sometimes with an irregularly fringed appearance to the edge of the cap. As it ages, the fungus turns a grey to yellowish colour with a faint greenish tinge.
Similar in colour to the gills, but slightly paler. Smells and tastes unpleasant.
The gills are crowded and unusually coloured, ranging from turquoise to a green colour, which is a distinguishing feature of this mushroom, as it ages the gills turn greyish yellow to yellowish green.
Greenish.
Whitish, with a hint of yellow or olive-green. There is a large, striate pendulous ring at the top of the stem and has a swollen base that is banded with warts.
Echinocephalus is from the Greek, meaning "with a head like a hedgehog"
