GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

14-06-2012, 11:05 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

wrote:
They are almost certainly Agaricus/Psalliota (i.e. common
mushrooms), but one of the key rules of picking those is
not to pick them until they have started to open and their
gills are a very definite pinkish brown. The chances of
including an Amanita are very low, but the cost of doing
so is vast. And, yes, you CAN get a single Amanita growing
amoung a mass of Agaricus.

So what's the key to the difference between the two?
I hadn't realised amanita were very similar to the common. I'm
guessing you're specifically thinking of the death cap? And
from the picture here I'm guessing the differences are the gill
colour is white/pale, and stem bag?

The huge flat ones with dark gills are almost certainly mature
versions of this - that is exactly how they develop. I would

See, that's what I thought, but the darkness of the gills compared
to the baby ones put me off.

have no hesitation in eating the ones that meet the safe
rule for Agaricus, which would include most of those and the
huge flat ones. But I would perform the check list first!