Short wide mushroom in TN

[Bcherry121]

Hello everyone,

 

can anyone one tell me what type of mushroom is growing in my yard based on the information/pictures below?  I near Nashville, TN. The mushrooms were found in my yard in partially shaded areas under two trees. They grow in clusters and are very short (barely at the level of the top of the grass). They turn brownish as they age and are silimar in color to the back side of falling leaves when they're new. I tried to get a spore print by pressing the gills on white paper but the transfer was mostly clear with a few grayish smudges. I don't think I have a very distinct sense of smell when it comes to mushrooms but they smelled similar to a portebella in my opinion. 

 

I would like to know if these mushrooms are harmful to pets. I have no intentions on eating them. 

 

 

[Dave W]

I think this is an example of Clitocybe tarda (=Lepista tarda... aka Lepista sordida). If I'm correct, then the spore print will be pale fleshy-pink, not a lot different than white, best seen on a white background. 

The "Blewit",  Lepista nuda looks similar and has the same color spore print as L. tarda, but with gills that are spaced more closely.

Also, some species of Cortinarius look similar to this. These types have spore print color ranging from rusty-brown to rusty-red to brown. But if this was a Cort, I'd expect to see some webby deposits on the stalk looking kinda rusty from spore drop. 

[vitog]

By the way, Bcherry, you won't get a spore print by pressing gills on paper.  You have to leave the mushroom, gills down, for several hours on top of the paper to allow a sufficient number of spores to be released to see the spore print.

[Dave W]

And... regarding spore prints, when taken on a porous piece of paper, the paper may absorb moisture form the mushroom, and this can throw off the perceived color of the print. A hard non-porous surface --white and black-- is best. But glossy paper will do. Also, you may take a print on a glass microscope slide and then position the slide over white/black paper to view the print. The drawback with this method is that if the print is not sufficiently thick, it can be difficult to get a good read on color.

Actually, another possibility comes to mind for the ID here... a species of Laccaria. These types have mainly white prints, sometimes with a very pale lilac tint. But, my guess is still L. tarda.