[1] It is difficult to distinguish this species from Pholiota squarrosa, but that mushroom has a greenish tinge to the gills and is never sticky.

[2][3] The species was reported as edible "with caution" by Kent and Vera McKnight, but that it can be confused with the poisonous P.

[1] Orson K. Miller Jr. and Roger Phillips regard it as edible,[4][5] but a description provided by the University of Arkansas states that it is not.

[3] The species can commonly be found in late summer in the Great Lakes states, the Pacific Northwest, and eastern North America.

In the Great Lakes region, it decays logs of the trees Acer saccharum and Tilia glabra.