Agaricus campestris?

[Ragnor]

Hello, I am just seeking confirmation on these. These mushrooms are growing in my horse pasture in Western washington State. They have grown for a couple of years now and if they are edible I would like to take advantage of them. Fall rains bring on a push.

Spore print is a chocolate to greyish brown.

No yellow bruising, though the cap I left overnight to spore print took on a yellowish tan color as it dried.

I have identified white aminitas growing just outside the pasture, which is not comforting but I am fairly confident in my identification of these as Agaricus campestris.

Some people call me paranoid or overly cautious, but I know what can happen with careless mushroom consumption so it's nice to have someone with more experience look at them, thx.

[Dave W]

"Campestris" is a species name likely applied to several North American species of field Agaricus, all of which are edible. Often the cap surface is just a bit scaly-shaggy-wooly, but NOT with small flat black/brown scales concentrated over the center (disc). Sometimes the cap surface of A. campestris is fairly smooth. Usually, the partial veil (membrane covering the young gills) forms a ring on the stalk which quickly collapses, or disappears. Among the ones seen here in this post, a few seem to have a fairly persistent ring on the stalk. This would be my chief concern... The western NA species Agarcius hondensis, which is a sickener, generally has a persistent ring on the stalk. I don't think the ones seen here represent A. hondensis. But I also think that anyone who wishes to collect edible Agaricus mushrooms in western NA should know about A. hondensis.

http://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/species/Agaricus_hondensis.html

A. hondensis is said to have a strong phenol (chemical) odor. But some people don't readily detect this, or some examples of the mushroom may exhibit this tendency weakly.

There are a few other toxic Agaricus species to know. They mostly stain yellow on the stalk base, and/or have the phenol odor, and/or have the black/brown/reddish flat scales on the cap surface.

Ragnor, I think you have learned to avoid the white-gilled white-spored Amanitas. That's a wise move. There are a couple of white-capped Amanitas with coffee+cream colored, or even pink, gills. I think you would recognize these as being different. They are very rare (perhaps not even known from west coast NA), and a spore print would immediately allow you to eliminate Agaricus from consideration.

[eat-bolete]

Dave,

Are there any Agaricus-looking Amanitas on east coast NA exhibiting non-white gills? Will those have white spore print?

[Ragnor]

Dave,

Thank you for the reply. I understand the concern in reguards to hondensis I do belive I recognize that mushroom as well. I have taken some more photos of older mushrooms from a push last week. The veil is noticably less prominent in the more mature samples.

Most of the mushrooms I collected today pushed in the last 24 hours and the veils broke very recently. I will also include my spore print. The spore print is not as rich chocolate brown as I observed last year, but is still a murky brown. I have another print on an old clear cd case and it shows a richer brown but is difficult to photgraph.

Also as a note: These mushrooms in the images are growing in a fairy ring about 60 feet across.

Last years heavy rains brought them out by the hundreds. This year not so much.

Also these have a very pleasant, deliciously sweet, almost floral aroma to them.

I think I know what a phenol smell is from the distant past. This are not that smell.

[Dave W]

Ragnor, looks like you've done the work to confidently ID A. campestris. I agree with your assessment. Of course, yourself being a cautious person, you understand my hesitation to make a hasty confident claim. The ones seen here look like prime campestris specimens.

Eat-bolete, I was wondering if you'd notice this discussion. Honestly, when I answered your Agaricus questions the other day, I didn't think to mention the odd tan/pink-gilled Amanitas. I don't know a whole lot about these... except for what I have seen on Mushroom Observer. I have only seen posts from Florida (and possibly Texas and/or Georgia... I forget). So I don't think of these as occurring in NE NA. As for the west coast... I have almost no first-hand knowledge of the mushrooms that occur out there. So I guess I tend to be more speculative about the possibilities. The spore print of the oddball Amanitas would be either white or slightly tinged... easily distinguished from the rich brown Agaricus spore print. It's good that you asked. This is the way to learn mushrooms... keep looking for information, keep making/studying collections, and ask a lot of questions.

[Ragnor]

Dave, thank you sir. I appreciate the assistance and I fully understand your hesitance to endorse consumption.

I find it facinating the number of local variations within each species in reguards to geographical location. Almost every species growing in my area differ slightly from other examples around the country.

I guess that keeps things interesting.

[Dave W]

The PNW is a fairly unique ecosystem... in NA terms. The tree types there are different than in other parts of NA. Here in Pennsylvania, the trees we have aren't a whole lot different than lots of other NA locations east of the Rockies. Also, the climate is northern CA, OR, and WA is fairly unique.

[eat-bolete]

Thanks Dave, I sure will ask questions Growing up we collected a lot of what we call champignons, but I looked up what a champignon is and it says A. bisporus. Now, I remember a very strong pleasant smell of the mushrooms we were collecting and bisporus from groceries don't have that smell. Possibly, it wasn't bisporus, or maybe mushrooms in the wild smell stronger than those farm raised ones. I regularly check big open fields in parks here with no luck so far (except that small find a few days back)

[Dave W]

Like with most types of mushrooms, Agaricus campestris types have up years and down years. I haven't seen many this year, or last year.

I think "Champignon" refers to any type of Agaricus... or maybe any type of mushroom. It's a fairly generic word. The website sponsored by a Canadian club is called "Champignons du Quebec", and hundreds of species are described.

[eat-bolete]

Thanks Dave, that's good to know. Ones we used to collect were definitely Agaricus. Collected in the vast steppes of Kazakhstan, cracked or shaggy caps, brown gills, intoxicating smell, especially when cooked. Unfortunately, I was too young to remember the rest. I will eventually find it, but I guess I'll have to wait for an UP year.