The Ultimate "What is this Fungi?" thread.

[Mad Mike]

I thought the large one was a horse mushroom. Swmbo can smell aniseed. Any body have any idea how long it takes a fairy ring to get that big?

I was hoping the smaller ones might be wood mushrooms agaricus silvicola. However they were older when collected & deteriorated very quickly. I was unable to confirm. Not sure = don't eat.

Mike

 

[Harvestman]

The others are certainly NOT A. augustus. They look like one of the phenol-tainted, yellow-staining members of the genus, probably A. moelleri. These smell like TCP.

Geoff, is this comment about Mad Mike's mushrooms, or mine?

 

[Geoff Dann]

I thought the large one was a horse mushroom. Swmbo can smell aniseed. Any body have any idea how long it takes a fairy ring to get that big?

Depends on the species, but quite a few years. 15 or 20 at least.

 

[Geoff Dann]

Geoff, is this comment about Mad Mike's mushrooms, or mine?

Yours......

 

[Harvestman]

Thanks Geoff.

So, A, moelleri, we think. Thank you. I stuck to my rule about not eating anything I'm not 100% sure of, so that's ok, and I've learned something again. Always good to find a species you haven't seen before. There was a distinct smell to them when picked, but I foolishly didn't pay attention to it, and it didn't last long after picking.

A. moelleri isn't in my copy of Phillips. How do you distinguish it from anything else? My specimens look greyer than the pictures of A. augustus that I've seen, and have a darker centre to the cap.

 

[Geoff Dann]

Thanks Geoff.

So, A, moelleri, we think. Thank you. I stuck to my rule about not eating anything I'm not 100% sure of, so that's ok, and I've learned something again. Always good to find a species you haven't seen before. There was a distinct smell to them when picked, but I foolishly didn't pay attention to it, and it didn't last long after picking.

I've been fooled by them in the past. People think this genus is easy, but it isn't. It's just that the penalty for getting it wrong is not that high...unless you get the genus itself wrong and eat a death cap thinking its an agaricus.

A. moelleri isn't in my copy of Phillips.

It's in the new version, which means he didn't come across it during his initial ten year project. Phillips seems to have spent most of his time in the north of the country. He couldn't have missed it if he'd spent ten years mushrooming in Sussex.

How do you distinguish it from anything else? My specimens look greyer than the pictures of A. augustus that I've seen, and have a darker centre to the cap.

Yes, slightly different colour, and different smell. And smaller. They are very similar in many ways...you'll need to find both species a couple of times to be able to tell them apart reliably from a picture.

 

[Harvestman]

In the middle of counting 49 common spotted orchids at work during my lunch break (I was in work today) I cam across these guys growing under a Lawsonia cypress.

The big one is more than 16cm across. Again I forgot to check for a distinctive smell until it was too late.


After my failure to identify my last Agaricus, I'm going to wait to be told

 

[Geoff Dann]

I've been spotting lots of orchids myself in the last week or two...too many to count. This is the first time I've ever really looked out for them and it turns out they're all over the place!

Those are Agaricus augustus. Pretty, aren't they?

 

[Harvestman]

I've been spotting lots of orchids myself in the last week or two...too many to count. This is the first time I've ever really looked out for them and it turns out they're all over the place!

Those are Agaricus augustus. Pretty, aren't they?

I had a feeling you were going to say that. Oh good.

And now I can see that the differences between these and A. moelleri are fairly pronounced. Looks like a prince of an omelette is on the menu then...

 

[Harvestman]

Yet another sort of Agaricus today. These stain bright yellow at the base of the stem when cut, but the stain disappears after about 5 minutes, and they barely turn yellow anywhere else when cut or bruised. Found in a shrubby border at work. Yellow stainer, A. xanthoderma, or something else? I'm regarding them as highly suspect, anyway.

 

[Geoff Dann]

Looks like it, yes.

 

[Harvestman]

Well, I'm learning my Agarics this year anyway! I've never seen such variety.

Thanks for the help as usual, Geoff. By the way, the A augustus were superb fried in some olive oil and garlic, some torchon ham, and served with grated cheddar. Simple, but wonderful.

 

[Geoff Dann]

Well, I'm learning my Agarics this year anyway! I've never seen such variety.

[nitpick]"Agaric" is another name for "mushroom" i.e. thing with a stem ("stipe" is proper) and cap. "Agaricus" is a genus of mushrooms.[/nitpick]

By the way, the A augustus were superb fried in some olive oil and garlic, some torchon ham, and served with grated cheddar. Simple, but wonderful.

My 2nd favourite Agaricus.

 

[Harvestman]

And now for something completely different...

Is this even a fungus, or is it a liverwort? Found growing on a muddy/gravelly/slightly wet-flushed car park



Either way, I have no intention of eating it.

 

[Harvestman]

[nitpick]"Agaric" is another name for "mushroom" i.e. thing with a stem ("stipe" is proper) and cap. "Agaricus" is a genus of mushrooms.[/nitpick]

Nitpick noted

The great thing about pedantry is that you only get to do it when you are right

 

[Geoff Dann]

And now for something completely different...

Is this even a fungus, or is it a liverwort? Found growing on a muddy/gravelly/slightly wet-flushed car park

I don't know. I found some exactly the same, growing in almost identical conditions, about three weeks ago. If it's a fungus, I can't tell you which one. I suspect it is something else.

 

[Harvestman]

I don't know. I found some exactly the same, growing in almost identical conditions, about three weeks ago. If it's a fungus, I can't tell you which one. I suspect it is something else.

Thanks. My guess is liverwort, or even a bacterial growth. I've seen something similar-ish from cyanobacteria in upland streams, but this definitely not an aquatic habitat (as much as anyway in the UK can be said to be non-aquatic at the moment).

I'll put it out to a wider audience.

 

[resnikov]

These have popped up in my garden

Any one ?

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2

 

[xylaria]

blackening wax cap.

 

[Harvestman]

Just to note that Bushwhacker Bob has kindly suggested that my strange green jelly thing pictured above is a cyanobacteria, called Nostoc.

Independently, I was coming to the same conclusion, at least in as much as it is a cyanobacteria.