Spore Print: White Habitat: This mushroom is found in the Rocky Mountains, usually mostly buried in pine needles. Edibility: Edible and highly esteemed in Europe. Comments: This mushroom has many look alikes that are very similar but it can be learned with experience. The gills are a bright yellow and there is not a veil on the stem. Several Cortinarius species are very similar but have a cobweb veil or rusty dust on the stem. Other Tricholoma that are similar lack the bright yellow gills. The cap is slimy and difficult to clean. They are found in troops so it's usually worthwhile to dig them up for dinner. I find that the Colorado 'Man on Horseback' smells like a cross between sour lemons and cucumbers when fresh but lose this sour smell when cooked and have an excellent taste when fried. It has a very light, very pleasant lemony aftertaste. This is one of my favorite mushrooms to eat! However, it is reported that some people have adverse reactions to eating this mushroom. In fact, some websites list this as a toxic mushroom (see definition at Wikipedia.com). This mushroom is also listed as an edible on the poster, "Edible Mushrooms: Forest Floor Mushrooms", by professional mycologist David Aurora. In 2006 this was the most abundant mushroom that I found and ate many meals several days in a row and didn't have any adverse affects (none that I know of anyway!).
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