It’s a Sunday afternoon and I pass by a grass verge near my house. My heart jumps at the sight of a huge cluster of (what seem to be) Horse mushrooms or possibly Field mushrooms.  I was without a basket or bag so like a kid in a sweet shop I scooped up a good share, leaving some to drop their spores.

But my dreams of a nice fry up or even a creamy mushroom soup are soon quaffed because I suddenly realise these mushrooms are not what they appear to be. I wait until I get home around the corner to double check. Read on…

I am not surprised at all that the Yellow Stainer (Agaricus xanthodermus) is responsible for the most cases of mushroom poisoning in this country. Although this evil twin of our favourite field, wood and Horse mushrooms is not deadly it can keep you in the loo for longer than you normally do! Gastric symptoms can persist for up to 24 hours. Fortunately I have not been caught out yet, but some people after consumption usually get away with only mild upset or sometimes have no reaction at all. My Uncle once told me “Ooh, I don’t get along with those Yellow Stainers – don’t like ‘em” . Let’s hope that it was only his palette they offended – I didn’t ask!

So how on earth can I identify this poisonous peril when compared to a Horse mushroom? I hear you all cry!

Don’t rely on the ‘overall look’. They differ in colour from pure white to brown/grey, scaly and smooth, tall and short and so on. Horse mushrooms can display some yellow colour on it’s cap and stem – so if you see yellow it’s not always a bad thing.

Both the Horse Mushroom and Yellow Stainer ‘bruise’ yellow (There’s hardly any yellow about the Field mushroom). But the Yellow Stainer has a stronger chromium yellow once bruised. If you rub the cap with your thumb, there will be a very noticeable colour change. But the crunch test for me is at the very base. Take a knife to the very bottom of the stem (the base is more bulbous than the others) and cut in half (see picture below). If the colour changes to a vivid yellow colour, then you’ve got yourself a Yellow Stainer. Horse and Field mushrooms do not stain at the base like this.

Other good ID tips are:
1. The smell is an unpleasant antiseptic-like smell (more so when being cooked)
2. The ring on the stem is quite large. Before the veil drops it does not have the ‘cogwheel’ pattern like the Horse Mushroom.
3. Gills when very young are white unlike the Horse and Field mushrooms which are pink

In addition to point 3 – if you’re new to collecting mushrooms, avoid very young specimens as they also can be confused with much more poisonous (even deadly) young toadstools.

Imposter of the Horse and Field Mushroom - The Yellow Stainer

It’s a great time of year to start going out foraging more often. It’s late summer with a good portion of rain to get things going. And Autumn is not too far away just round the corner. Many different species start to pop out and show their faces. The problem is though I do tend to get covered in insect bites that itch like crazy!

Besides these problems, I was fortunate enough to find two members of the Macrolepiota family not too far away from each other in and around my local park. The Parasol (Macrolepiota procera) and the Shaggy Parasol (Macrolepiota rhacodes). From the genus Lepiota, these represent the larger specimens in this group. The name ‘Dappering’ is also used to label the majority of this species.

The Parasol mushroom is fairly common and I found this one on the edge of parkland in thick grass (shared with nettles that added to my stings). It’s a mushroom you can’t really miss – standing their tall and proud shouting out it’s presence to the world. It was a solitary soul but sometimes you can find small and large groups of them together.

The Parasol mushroom's distinctive central brown 'bump' and scaly pattern on the stem

As the common name suggests, the open cap mimics the familiar shape of a parasol. When young, the cap is egg shaped and flattens out when it expands. The cap is a pale buff to white/creamy/brown colour with darker brown shaggy scales. Notably, it has a prominent bump on the top in the centre (umbo).

It’s long slender stem (slightly thicker near the base) has scaly snakeskin markings with a large (double) ring which can be moved up and down. Great fun. This scaly snakeskin appearance on the stem that helps in identifying it from a Shaggy Parasol which does not share this characteristic. Also note the smell, which is very distinctive (like ‘warm-milk as I’ve seen it written somewhere). The Shaggy Parasol on the other hand has no real strong smell at all.

This is an excellent mushroom to eat. Generally good as a fry up but I’ve heard they’re great deep-fried with dipping sauce on the side. Yum!

A few days before I had found myself a Shaggy Parasol (Macrolepiota rhacodes) located on a patch of grass in the conifer wood, close to the park. It was kindly (and indirectly) pointed out by a passing little boy, shouting and pointing ‘MUSHROOM!’ to his uninterested mother who replied ‘Don’t touch’! Very wise words indeed. Just leave it there – just for me (heh heh)!

Distinctive brown scales curling away from the white cap & thick bulbous base of stem

The rounded white cap (expanding to almost flat) has brown scales on top that curve upwards and out giving it a shaggy, torn appearance. The stem at the base is thick and rounded unlike the Shaggy Parasol which isn’t as bulbous.

This shaggy mushroom can be easily mistaken for the Parasol which is understandable. Good tips on how to identify this mushroom over the Parasol are the thicker, stockier appearance, no ‘snake-skin’ pattern on the stem and last but not least it’s colouring when bruised or cut. If you cut the stem, you will see the colour ‘bruise’ orange/red. Likewise, if you bruise the gills they will change to a red colour.

Edibilty-wise, this can be a very nice treat indeed – for some that is! It must be cooked, but it can disagree with some people and cause digestive upset or even a skin rash. It’s always best to try a little first and see how you go.

One last word of warning though – Never pick smaller sized parasols, or what appear to be parasols. You may by mistake obtain one of the smaller species of Lepiota (Dapperlings). They are very poisonous (at least most of them are) and will cause you some serious grief. They are smaller than our scrummy Parasols, about 7cm or less, but no bigger. They’re colour also more warmer and orange or pinkish. So, as a good rule with Parasol mushrooms only pick ones that are at least 12cm in diameter.

Note: This post was inspired by overhearing a conversation at my local pub where they raved on about a local guy who knew where the ‘Blue Legs’ were at! He had bags of them for sale! I could only assume that they meant ‘Blewits’. On asking the bar maid, she knew nothing of Blewits and only that they were known locally as ‘Blue Legs’. Only later I have realised ‘Blue Legs’ are a common name given to ‘Field Blewits’ much less common than our Wood Blewit in question which has the common nae of ‘Blue Cap”. This makes you think though. The relevance of scientific ‘latin’ names holds its own here. I think a lot is lost in translation in mushroom identification with common names. Even though I love them so, Latin names make sense overall (even though they tend to change themselves!!)

Winter was making itself felt as it’s cold arm stretched across the land. But one lazy Sunday afternoon at the end of November, I dragged myself over to the local mushroom hangouts. Being south side of a major city you’re a little stuck for local woodland. Blaby on the other hand (South Leicester) comes up with the goods. We have a collection of mini public woodland and country byways. They’re all great because at one point or another they eventually end up at the local pub! Or is that my doing?

Anyway. For a casual stroll, I was surprised to come across quite a few lovely specimens. Three of them I’m still not sure about and still checking. But unmistakably I think I came across my first ‘Wood Blewit’ (Lepista nuda). You’ll maybe notice I have filed this post both under ‘Identity Crisis’ AND ‘Woodland Treats’ categories. All the characteristics were there. The colour, the presence of a wavy margin and also it being a stand alone species, living on dead organic matter (saprotrphs). It even was an exact match (pictorial-wise) to one of my reference books – it looked exactly the same! But I know that looks are deceiving, especially in this pass time. But even when I picked it, the wood floor wanted to come with it! Another tell tale sign. But I knew of the danger of mistaking it for one of the ‘Webcaps’. Surely a spore print would solve this issue for me. Wouldn’t it?

See the pics below. I know they’re not of the best quality as I was bloody cold and didn’t have time to get the best results!

The blue (purple/violet) colours of the Wood Blewit mushroom

Anyway. One spore print later I find  it to be (what I’d call) light brown!? And what am I looking for? Pale pink is the answer. I tried to convince myself this WAS pale pink, but no – this was a light brown, and that means Webcap. How can it be? There were no remains of web fibres on the cap to the stem – nothing!

This perplexes me and I don’t like it! I will very will come back to this post and answer my own question. There’s nowt as queer as mushrooms!

UPDATE JAN 2010: John Wright (Mushroom man extraordinaire, best known from his appearances on River Cottage) kindly replied to an email I sent about this identity crisis. He wrote: ‘Thank you for your email and sorry to take so long to reply. I like your article and your Wood Blewits are definitely Wood Blewits. The spore print colour question is understandable – the pink is a little subjective – it is a very pale lilac and not unlike a very pale brown! Webcaps have distinctive rust brown spores…’

Invaluable information I think you’ll agree. Thanks John. Case Closed!

Having never before found any Bolete, let alone the highly prized Cep (Boletus edulis) I was very cautious in this first discovery, but also, quite excited about it! Having made all the checks etc… I was half convincing myself that – “Yes, this HAS to be a CEP“, but was it a young or old one? I had no idea.

Still, in a worse case scenario this was a Bitter Bolete (Tylopilus felleus) or one of the other non-poisinous family members. So I put my find in the pan and couldn’t wait to see what all the fuss was about with this great Cep flavour. Unfortunately for now, I still won’t know! Blaarg! At least I now know what a Bitter Bolete tastes like. Bugger!

On further reading, I should have realised that the dark network on the stem was a good marker – but I’m a little confused as to why the cap was very dark brown, just like the Cep. All of my field guide pictures don’t show it like this. But a little further searching on an internet image search that they do indeed can look like this! It’s all down to experience I guess in familiarising yourself.

Here lies the culprit in question. It’s a Bolete but not a Penny Bun!

Bitter Bolete - Clue's in the name on how it tastes!

Strolling through the mixed woodland of Swithland Woods (mid-November), I came across these beauties on a tree. My knowledge of trees is at best, limited – so I wasn’t sure which species it was. At first glance my best guess was that these were Brown Stew Fungus (Kuehneromyces mutabilis – STROPHARIA FAMILY).

I did not collect any at this time for one reason or another, but I know that the Sulphur Tuft mushroom (Hypholoma fasiculare) are of the same family and look very similar (do these just grow on dead wood?). Then there’s the Velvet Shank (Flammulina velutipes – TRICHOLOMA FAMILY), these have no ring on the stem, and on these photos, I’m not sure if any remains of a ring on the stem are visible either. Obviously a spore print would settle my anguish, but serves me right for not collecting any.

The images are interesting anyway. Have a look and if anyone has any ideas feel free to leave a comment. Thanks.