Selfsufficientish.com

Hi there,

Found this mushroom growing by the edge of some conifer trees we have in our back garden. No sign of any others.

Its about 8cm in diameter, probably about the same in height.
Creamy coloured gills, and what looks to me like 'cogwheels'

Could it be an Agaricus arvensis (horse mushroom)
It seems to have a slightly aniseedy smell, though I could be imagining that after reading it in the guide.

I don't want to eat it, looks a bit slug eaten for that, just interested to learn what it is.

Thanks in advance.

Bob

Hi PB and welcome to ish. Although this is a young fruitbody the gill colour doesn't seem to fit with horse mushroom. I wonder if it could be a solitary Armillaria Bulbosa (one of the honey fungus family). If it is there will probably be more popping up before too long, an older specimen may develop shape, colour and spores to help with a more positive ID.

hi Carltonian Man,

thanks for the reply, I left the mushroom out over night and the gills have gone brown, which seems to be much more in keeping with the description of the horse mushroom.

Could it be I just caught this one in a very early stage of development?

cheers.

That's a better photo, not nearly so yellow. It could be an agaricus macrosporus. Bigger than a field or cultivated mushroom it's often a bit scaly and with tiny scales on the stem. Smells shroomy but also has a slight smell of aniseed. If it is they make good eating.

Hi Penny Bun,

I reckon you'll find them to be Agaricus augustus, "The Prince". If so, they are very fine eating mushrooms. I find that they smell richly of almonds, especially when dried. The almond taste disappears on cooking, leaving a rich mushroomy flavour. Very nice!

Thanks, unfortunately didn't eat any this time, maybe they will return next year.

Went out walking yesterday and found a couple of different mushrooms.

First this Beefsteak mushroom growing at the base of an oak tree... Not over struck on the taste of it. But it's interesting.


Also I saw these, not quite saw what they are, thought they could have been either velvet shanks or sulphur tufts, so I didn't chance any, took one home and did a spore print. The spores were white, so rules out sulphur tufts.
Could they be velvet shanks? They weren't growing on any wood, just out of the hedge. Any thoughts?

Thanks

Not sure but definitely not velvet shanks, they have a figure 8 cross section to the stem.

I agree with CM; not Velvet Shanks. Velvets have no ring on the stem. To me, they look like Honey Fungus. The ring is a good match and the caps are slightly scaly/speckled, which also matches. The second picture makes it look as though they are more rounded when young, these are starting to go over. Are they on a tree-stump? If so, I reckon Honey Fungus.

By the way, The Prince does come up in the same spots year-on-year, so it's worth looking next year. Also, nice pictures of the Beefsteak Fungus. Very distinctive. Nice to know that they're easy to recognise for the day when I might find one. :)

Hi SJ, think you could be right about these. They do look like the other photos of honey fungus I've seen. Like this one... http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/galle ... fungus.jpg

They weren't on a tree stump, just in the hedge, though oak trees growing out the top of the hedge.

There are lots more coming so I may go back and see about the shape of the young specimens.

Not confident enough to eat these yet.

Was pleased to find the beefsteak mushroom. Whilst the taste wasn't unpleasant, I'm not sure if I would bother with it again. A fascinating fungus though!

thanks

Found another couple that look like the possible prince mushroom, very close to the other one I previously found.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/ ... G_1864.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/ ... G_1867.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/ ... G_1863.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/ ... G_1856.jpg

Not sure about that one Penny. I'm inclined to say not A. augustus, maybe a yellow stainer;

Does it smell intensely of almonds? Or unpleasantly inky, like a Yellow Staining Mushroom?

Did it have a ring on the stem? I can't see one. The rings on the prince are distinct and look like a frilly skirt. Yellow stainers have a ring, but higher up and of different appearance. It can become detached though.

Does it stain yellow in the base of the stem? It looks to me as though I see a hint of yellow in there. Cut or crush the bulbous stem base. If it discolours yellow, it's a yellow stainer. Discard! Not for the pot!

Unfortunately I think you could be correct here.
I cut the stem and it is slightly yellow although I can't smell any sort of inky smell.
Definitely not going to risk it.

Penny, I think you're right to be cautious. None of the mushrooms in this family are especially dangerous/poisonous, but if you're not sure, you'll not be able to enjoy eating them anyway; you'd give yourself a dicky tummy just worrying over it.

On the bright side, it's all good experience and the more you immerse yourself in observing the little differences in detail between similar species, the more you'll be able to identify them at a glance.

Yeah, better safe than sorry I think.
Yeah like you say its all good experience, I've only been looking at mushrooms for a few weeks now, but already learnt so much. It all helps build up the knowledge.

It's not s deep yellow like some of the photos of yellow stainer I've just looked at.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/ ... G_1870.jpg

There was no ring when I found it. May have a look at the others tomorrow, see what they look like.
There are some young specimens there. I read that if the gills start off white rather than pink they are probably yellow stainers.

been out looking for mushrooms again this weekend.
Found some lovely oyster mushrooms.

But not sure on this one. A member of the bolete family? but I can't seem to place which one. The tubes are almost chocolate brown, though they do have a greenish tint in certain lights.

The stem slightly bulbous at base of stem, though not especially so.

Any thoughts?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/ ... G_1920.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/ ... G_1925.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v446/ ... G_1926.jpg

thanks