On 02/06/13 19:01, Christina Websell wrote:
wrote in message
...
Ragnar wrote:
Looks like common Field Mushroom to me.

From the underside, but the top is brown.


do not eat it. I did once eat a mushroom from my garden and spent 24 hours
on the toilet.
It looked innocuous. It wasn't.

*NEVER* eat a mushroom unless you *know* what it is... (And of course,
that it's edible.)


--
Rusty Hinge

"Granity" wrote in message
...

Christina Websell;984456 Wrote:
wrote in message
...-
Ragnar wrote:-
Looks like common Field Mushroom to me.-

From the underside, but the top is brown.-


do not eat it. I did once eat a mushroom from my garden and spent 24
hours
on the toilet.
It looked innocuous. It wasn't.

Christina, instead of sounding like a stuck needle every time someone
mentions mushrooms, perhaps you could explain what you thought the
mushroom was, how you managed to misidentify it and what reference works
you used. This would be much more use to others on here. :-)



OK, it looked like a field mushroom and I used Collins field guide.

The only thing I can say is that the cap was slightly yellow.

I cannot produce it again for examination because I ate it.
I wish I hadn't.

On 04/06/13 21:08, Christina Websell wrote:
"Granity" wrote in message
...

Christina Websell;984456 Wrote:
wrote in message
...-
Ragnar wrote:-
Looks like common Field Mushroom to me.-

From the underside, but the top is brown.-


do not eat it. I did once eat a mushroom from my garden and spent 24
hours
on the toilet.
It looked innocuous. It wasn't.

Christina, instead of sounding like a stuck needle every time someone
mentions mushrooms, perhaps you could explain what you thought the
mushroom was, how you managed to misidentify it and what reference works
you used. This would be much more use to others on here. :-)



OK, it looked like a field mushroom and I used Collins field guide.

The only thing I can say is that the cap was slightly yellow.

I cannot produce it again for examination because I ate it.
I wish I hadn't.

Ah. Collins' guide. By Morton Lange? First edition 1961? Some nice
illustrations and some lousy ones.

Look up Paxillus involutus.

What does it say about its edibility?

Even I, in 1954 knew the so-called 'edible' mushroom was cumulatively
deadly...

--
Rusty Hinge

Thanks for coming back Christina sounds as though you probably got a yellow stainer, (Agaricus xanthodermus) which is one of those that Roger Phillips says: "Poisonous. The symptoms are sweating, flushing and severe stomach cramps, but only some people are affected."

Rogers Mushrooms - Agaricus xanthodermus Mushroom


What is really needed is a book that lists the common edible fungi, shows photos of the ones that they could be confused with on the same page and tells you how to tell the difference.

The lesson here is that "it looked like" isn't good enough, you have to systematically identify it. Of course one can become very familiar with a particular kind of mushroom by picking it regularly, and thus all the identification factors fall into place, and then you should realise when one doesn't look quite right. For example, field mushrooms tend to grow in groups, and when you arrive at an obvious large number of them growing across a field, at various stages of maturity, and pick them, you gain a familiarity with the general range of appearances of field mushrooms. It remains important not to eat any so immature that their gills have not darkened, because:

I saw a nice fat mushroom growing on a grass verge, just as Agaricus bitorquis tends to. It looked just like that, so I picked it and took it home. Then, in hand, I saw its gills were not darkened. A little while later, carefully identifying it with the book, I had idenfied it as an albino death cap, and one would be enough to kill the whole family.

I've also gone "there's some nice mushrooms on that piece of grass" and then looked at them properly and discovered they were yellow-stainers. I didn't even have a book to hand. If you have heard of yellow-stainers and know what to look for, they are very easy to identify. I've only seen them once again.

On 06/06/13 13:16, echinosum wrote:

/snip/

I've also gone "there's some nice mushrooms on that piece of grass" and
then looked at them properly and discovered they were yellow-stainers. I
didn't even have a book to hand. If you have heard of yellow-stainers
and know what to look for, they are very easy to identify. I've only
seen them once again.

I had suspected one of the yellow staining mushrooms: about one person
in ten is affected by them.

Pick a young specimen of a yellow staining mushroom (Agaricus
xanthodermus) nd cut thebase of the stipe: it will turn bright yellow
*immediately*.

Other (Agaricus) mushrooms may turn yellow there, or anywhere else on
handling, but the three thugs (at the last count) discolour at the drop
of a hat.(Bad Hat, of course)

There are at least thirty-six species in the genus in this country.

--
Rusty Hinge

In article ,
RustyHinge wrote:
On 06/06/13 13:16, echinosum wrote:

I've also gone "there's some nice mushrooms on that piece of grass" and
then looked at them properly and discovered they were yellow-stainers. I
didn't even have a book to hand. If you have heard of yellow-stainers
and know what to look for, they are very easy to identify. I've only
seen them once again.

I had suspected one of the yellow staining mushrooms: about one person
in ten is affected by them.

Pick a young specimen of a yellow staining mushroom (Agaricus
xanthodermus) nd cut thebase of the stipe: it will turn bright yellow
*immediately*.

Other (Agaricus) mushrooms may turn yellow there, or anywhere else on
handling, but the three thugs (at the last count) discolour at the drop
of a hat.(Bad Hat, of course)

In particular, horse mushrooms stain yellow - but it takes several
minutes for the yellow to become more than a discolouration.

I have never seen a yellow-stainer to be certain of, however.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Tuesday, June 4, 2013 1:10:56 AM UTC+1, RustyHinge wrote:
On 03/06/13 13:31, echinosum wrote:

;984238 Wrote:

In article , wrote:-

Ragnar wrote:-

Looks like common Field Mushroom to me.-



From the underside, but the top is brown.-



There are several Agaricus like that.





Regards,

Nick Maclaren.

I don't think this is Agaricus. The stem looks rather tough and fibrous

for that, and also it has a well-defined hollow section - now Ag stems

can become hollow with age, but this doesn't look old. Also shiny top

is unusual for Ag. Also it is rather an odd time of year for agaricus

to be appearing, though I have occasionally seen some out-of-season

ones, often big fat ones on grass verges by roads.



Those are most likely to be A. bitorquis, but they tend to have white

caps,sometimes with a little scaly brown.



Also up between

stones is an odd location for an Agaricus, with the exception of A

bitorquis the "pavement mushroom", but it isn't that. Immature Agaricus

have white gills which become dark brown on maturity. If this is an

Agaricus, its gills are surprisingly pale for such a well-expanded cap.

Even if it is an Agaricus, never eat one until its gills have darkened

because you can't be sure until then.



Something fairly small with a brown cap growing up between stones in May

is very unlikely to be of culinary interest. The interesting things

that grow at this time of year are mostly St Georges mushrooms and

morels.



Yes, morels are thin on the ground here, and St. George has come about a

month late,due to the dry spring. (Got some in the fridge.)



--

Rusty Hinge

Lucky you, I am jealous!

Jenny

On 06/06/13 19:33, wrote:

In particular, horse mushrooms stain yellow - but it takes several
minutes for the yellow to become more than a discolouration.

I have never seen a yellow-stainer to be certain of, however.

They generally smell like a cross between aniseed and phenol.

The cap tends to be rather cylindrical, with a domed top, and rounded
underneath. You may find troops of them growing in damp and shady places.

The gills start off rather grey and darken to something less chestnut
than the field mushroom.

--
Rusty Hinge

There is a unmistakable diagnostic for them, which is a simple but unfortunately destructive test. Take the complete stem out of the ground, cut it open, and there should be a yellow patch towards the base, inside it.