Orange Bonnet

The Orange Bonnet has small orange-red caps, up to 1 cm in diameter, sitting on slender yellowish stems up to 6 cm long. The gills are pale yellow with a whitish edge. The cap of the Orange Bonnet initially curves outwards, but as it matures, it expands to a bell-shape.

Regardless of being a striking colour, these bonnet mushrooms are easily overlooked because they are so small. They can become obscured in the moss and leaf litter of the woodland floor.

If you want to see these pretty little mushrooms, you need to look in damp deciduous broadleaf woodlands. They grow singly, in groups, or somewhat clustered, most often in areas of deep shade. They grow on dead twigs and other woody debris, buried beneath the top layer of leaf litter. They appear in July and carry on through to November.

This species has been described as ‘a delight to behold’, but ‘one usually has to get down on hands and knees to find it!’

Widespread and fairly frequent throughout Britain.