"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
...
These have appeared in the garden and I wondered should I be worried or
getting the frying pan out?
www.roselandhouse.co.uk/fungi.htm

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collections of Clematis viticella (cvs) and
Lapageria rosea


I agree with people that they are Parasol mushrooms. At any rate they are
very unlike Destroying Angels, Deathcaps and Panther Caps and the Ivory
Clitocybe, which are the nasty ones to look out for.

Do a spore test with a piece of glass ( place a cap on a watchglass, i.e. a
piece of flat glass for some hours, covered to keep moist, and look at the
colour of the spore pattern ( against a dark background ). They should be
white.
My book says;
Habitat: meadows, parks, roadside verges, open woodland.
Season: midsummer to late autumn.
Size: Cap 10-25m, stem 15-35cm x 15-25mm.
Edible: Excellent nutty taste. Discard stem and fry the cap whole, coated in
breadcrumbs.

When young, looks like an egg on a stick. Mature cap flat apart from raised,
dark brown central region which is surrounded by rings of flat brown scales
on a cream background. It has dry, creamy-white gills. The long hollow stem
tapers from a swollen base and bears faint snake-like markings below the
moveable double ring.
However, the Slender Parasol, which is about half the size is similar except
it lacks scales at the cap edge, so there is a good possibility it is that,
as I see a lack of scales at the cap edge as far as I can see in your
photos.

They look a bit addled for eating now anyway.

Andy.