'allo,

Any chance anyone can help me identify a mushroom I found earlier? I've bought a book and tried to do it that way, but I've had little luck.


Picture at www.sylvanus.net/mushroom.jpg


Thanks!

From the pics it shows some of the characteristics of the Lepiota genus.
I cant be sure from just a picture in this case, if you could take a spore print and list the habitat perhaps that would help a bit.
Which book do you have?

Hi C - thanks for replying,

After reading a number of reviews, I decided to buy 'Mushrooms and other fungi of great britain and europe', by roger Phillips - several quite knowledgeable people said it was their favourite, and I thought, 'good enough for me'. What they didn't mention is that it's pitched somewhat above the level of a complete novice... I'm going to get an idiot's guide to help me read it, next time I get to the shops (any recommendations gratefully recieved).

The mushroom has opened up a bit now (www.sylvanus.net/mushroom2.jpg), and I now think it rather resembles a parasol; I didn't think it was before, because it seemed rather large to have not started opening. The ring around the stem where the cap was once attached is moveable, sliding up and down the stalk, which (apparently) could be another indicator of Parasol-ness.

No spore print as yet, but there's no hint of greening around the gills (apparently there's a green-spored imposter)... As for the habitat, I found it in a shaded patch at the bottom of a hill in my local wood.

There is a green spored parasol (genus Chlorophyllum) which is kind of a sub-genus branching off from Lepiotaceae. If the spore print is indeed green, then im pretty sure you have Chlorophyllum molybdites a poisonous mushroom which is the most common cause of mushroom poisonings in the United States.

For books, I have quite the collection. I actually started off with a Dk and simon and shusters book. I would go for Mushrooms Demystified. It is the best field guide for the price, IMO. It is designed for the beginner or expert (may seem a bit confusing at first).

It could possibly be Macrolepiota Rhacodes- it certainly isn't M. Procera. I may have a look through B+K and see what others are there.

Mark

Thanks for taking the time to reply

C - Cheers for the recommendation - I shall look into getting that book. The one I have seems pretty thorough, but I do need something to initially point me in the right direction. My current knowledge of mushrooms is pitched somewhere around the level of 'uhhh... try Tesco, isle 2'.

Mark_h - I've picked a couple I'm pretty much sure are shaggy parasols (I ate one, and it's not killed me yet), and they do look slightly different - the flakes on the cap are vaguely reminiscent of a pine-cone. This one looks tatty, but the brown parts seem more like patches than flakes, which was why I wondered... However, I'm quite sure that there's a fair bit of variability within each species, so it would probably be stupid of me to expect them all to look exactly the same.

So long as it's definitely not anything vastly harmful, I'm quite happy to consume the thing in the interests of experimentation. I'd like to learn about edible fungi, and I guess a couple of bouts of illness are a part of the learning curve. I don't really mind if I make myself ill a couple of times, but I'm not too keen on making myself dead... I've had a good look at the ones in Phillips' 'avoid at all costs' category, and it doesn't look like those...

I'm rambling. Oh, well. Thanks again