These are popping up everywhere - ID?

[ChefsWild]

Hollow stem, bulbous end on stipe, fleshy colored, pale fleshy colored gills as well. Some have a "cracked" looking pattern.

Another patch had similar looking specimens but with darker colored gills. Older fruiting of the same mushroom?

[4rum]

I found some very much like those in the first photos. I did spore prints. The spores are a light tan. I know that's very broad. The spore color is much like the color of the caps.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/saLzXV]

[Dave W]

Hi Chefs!

These appear to be a species of Agrocybe. The spring Agrocybes are often labeled Agrocybe praecox. But it is believed there is more than one species lumped under this name. Large springtime fruitings are common, usually on spread woodchips. But I have also seen them in the woods, or even on lawns from buried wood. There doesn't seem to be much available info on edibility. I have never sampled any type of Agrocybe. Spore print dull brown.

A somewhat similar brown spored springtime mushroom is Pholiota veris, usually smaller in stature and most often occurring in woodland areas. The spore print is a brighter shade of brown than Agrocybe.

Agrocybe aegerita is cultivated as an edible in Europe. But it wouldn't surprise me if this species ends up being placed in the genus Cyclocybe, a split-off from Agrocybe.

[Dave W]

Could also be a species of Agrocybe, 4rum. Did you obtain a nice thick spore print?

[Dave W]

Looking again, 4rum. Did this mushroom have a ring on the stalk? Some spring Agrocybes have rings that persist, but with others the ring falls off fairly quickly. Pholiota veris has a ring that collapses on to the stem. You can usually see some remains of the ring. I think P. veris is another possibility for your mushroom. I have found P. veris both on wood and terrestrial in soil with lots of woody debris. Mainly a woodland mushroom.

[4rum]

Yes, I got a good spore print on a white paper towel. It was just a bit lighter in color than the cap color in the photo (on my monitor ... have you noticed the difference in color on different screens?). These are growing in amongst the wine caps. I'll get more photos if they're still there today.

[Dave W]

Interesting about the print color. I still think Agrocybe is the best possibility here. As I mentioned above, there are likely several species currently lumped under the heading A. praecox. If I find any this spring, I'll make some spore prints.

[4rum]

Dave I think you're probably right on this one. I'll put up a couple of photos. Some seemed to have the remnants of a veil, some didn't show signs of ever having one. They could possible be different varieties but look very much alike and are growing close together.

No veil.

Possible veil.

The patch.

[Dave W]

Nice photos! Tough to say whether these are Pholiota veris (new name Pholiota marginella) or an Agrocybe species. The Pholiota usually shows more evidence of the ring, but it may fall off completely. I think that microscopic analysis would be necessary to get a better idea here. Even then, it can be tricky. The Pholiota spores have lengths that top out around the lower bound of the Agrocybe praecox spores. And, who really knows the range of all the different A. praecox spore sizes...?

I think the fairly light print color points a bit more toward the Pholiota.