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Not sure if these are St Georges Mushrooms, if they are they are out of season.


berks

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Hi All,

Never done this before, but surprisingly enjoying the id process and investigation.. I purchased my property a year ago and last week a load of mushrooms began to appear in my front garden, which is mainly natural grass. The mushrooms have also appeared in another garden a about 4 doors down. Everything tells me they a St Georges Mushrooms, but they are out of season so i'm suspicious I've missed something in identifying them correctly. Also, in order to get to the gills, i have to cut through some protective skin, clever mushroom as i'm sure it's doing that to prevent dirt in it's gills. This is odd as nothing out there points to this protective skin, all info out there already has the gills in view, so that's confused me more to be honest. The whole thing appears to be white inside an out, but the gills do have a very slight pinkish hue, but very light and can still be mistaken for whitey/beige.

They vary in size, the canopy is about 11cm and some around 4cm. They seem to be growing in a half circle, but not 100% on that. Also, they smell like a mushroom would if i bought it in a supermarket, exactly what i think a mushroom should smell like. Kind of earthy. The flesh is all white when cut open. The green bit at the base is just grass staining.

I've taken a few pics, hopefully someone can help me confirm what they are. Great fun and hope i'm right, but the small detail that they are not in season makes me think i'm wrong. I can provide more pics if required.

Thanks!

Berks

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 St Georges Mushrooms usually referred to Calocybe gambosa.  Mushroom on a picture looks like Agaricus sp to me. Some Agaricus are good edible (same as store mushrooms) some not so much. Luck of chemical odor or strong yellow stain is a good sign but wait for other opinions. I do not eat wild Agaricus much. Each time I find them it is usually in areas of extensive human activity 

 

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Thanks SVS. You may be on to something there and fits with the season. I've just read that when they are young, they do have pinkish gills which apparently turn brown as they mature. These are only about a week old, so guessing they are quite young. I will of course wait for other opinions before doing anything. If they do turn out to be Agaricus, then how long do you wait before harvesting? Are they better young or mature? If they do turn out to be safe, then that would be a bumper harvest as the other patch of lawn they are growing on is public and there are loads growing there!

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I agree SVS. These are probably an Agaricus species, not Calocybe gambosa "St. George's Mushroom" - Sorry berks! These are definitely out of season, as berks stated, which is from April to June. Berk's samples also have a partial veil, which is not found on C. gambosa (this is the "protective skin" that berks accurately credits the clever mushrooms for using to protect young gills).

These are not St. George's, but they may be Agaricus arvensis, called "Horse Mushroom": https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/agaricus-arvensis.php . Be careful, though, this mushroom is often confused with Agaricus xanthodermus, known as the "Yellow Stainer": https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/agaricus-xanthodermus.php . It appears that the yellow stain on berks sample turned yellow, but fairly slowly, as opposed to the quick staining of A. xanthodermus. Berks also commented that the odor was mild, as store-bought mushrooms. A. xanthodermus will give off a phenol smell. These key facts may be enoiugh to rule out A. xanthodermus.

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Thanks for the detailed reply Howard, very helpful! It looks like we are heading in the right direction so far and these may be edible after-all. Is it good to let them mature first before harvesting? I was also reading that you need to cut the mushroom at the base to ensure you can detect the yellowing effect. Is it possible i did not cut it deep enough, i just shifted the thing to the left and snapped it off.

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