# Mushroom ID needed. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377 "2008-06-27T00:13:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/1 "2008-06-27T00:13:19Z")
Hey dopers, I need an ID on some absolutely enormous mushrooms that have popped up in my yard. My best guess is the shaggy parasol, but nothing seems to quite match up. They are huge, nearly the size of saucers, some five to seven inches in diameter, and have dark gills. Spores seem to be white when shaken. Pics [HERE](http://picasaweb.google.com/adamjprawlocki/Gardening/photo#5216338812565414658) as well as the previous photo. There are lots of them. I think they’re fabulous, but would like to know if they are edible. (I suspect not) I know better than to eat them without a positive ID and to taken them to a certified mushroom guy for confirmation etc… Thanks in advance! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/2 "2008-06-27T00:47:17Z")
At a glance, probably some species of [Amanita](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroying_angel). [Do not eat!](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Death_Cap_Mushroom.jpg/450px-Death_Cap_Mushroom.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/3 "2008-06-27T00:49:50Z")
They do look like a species of _Lepiota_ (parasol mushrooms), although the dark gills are throwing me - they could actually be an _Agaricus_. Identification by photo and description is often tricky - _safe_ identification, doubly so. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/4 "2008-06-27T00:51:54Z")
Amanitas all have white gills - so I don’t think it’s one of those. Still don’t eat it though. ---
**Author:** ![Kyrie\_Eleison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kyrie_eleison/32/7682_2.png) [@Kyrie\_Eleison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyrie_Eleison)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/5 "2008-06-27T01:06:04Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Amanitas all have white gills - so I don’t think it’s one of those. Still don’t eat it though. [/QUOTE] You may be right; I confess that I looked at the linked picture and overlooked the bit about the gills. I have to confess that I too readily classify any large, white mushroom as an Amanita, simply because they’re nearly all poisonous around here. Did I mention that I don’t think you should eat it? ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/6 "2008-06-27T01:08:50Z")
Kick them! It’s fun! See how quickly you can kick every mushroom in the yard! ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/7 "2008-06-27T01:11:22Z")
I added a few more pics after plucking one and taking it in. They have good lasting power, the one in the pic was loose this morning and was unremarkable from the fresh ones still growing. I read a bit and would like to add that they don’t appear to change color when cut, and they smell like portabello mushrooms. No foul or unusual scent. The gills as you can see are sort of white but greeny-blue gray deeper in. That is a full sized stovetop near the cap BTW. They really are amazingly big, and sprout up overnight! Perhaps white is a btter desciptor, they looked darker when i was observing them in situ. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/8 "2008-06-27T01:13:29Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] Kick them! It’s fun! See how quickly you can kick every mushroom in the yard! [/QUOTE] Heh. I Like them, I don’t want an entire yard of them. My HOA is already annoyed at me as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/9 "2008-06-27T01:23:14Z")
_A. Muscaria Alba_ or some local variant? ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/10 "2008-06-27T01:31:54Z")
\*Chlorophyllum Molybdites \* is also in the running. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/11 "2008-06-27T01:37:32Z")
Sorry for posting to my own thread so much. Bugger. It’s either a delicious, delicious mushroom, or a poisonous impostor. 😕 :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-id-needed/454377/12 "2008-06-27T01:44:13Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] They do look like a species of _Lepiota_ (parasol mushrooms), although the dark gills are throwing me - they could actually be an _Agaricus_. Identification by photo and description is often tricky - _safe_ identification, doubly so. [/QUOTE] My thoughts, pretty much. They give off a _Lepiota_ vibe with that ring and cap combination, but that genus has been thoroughly split in recent years. _Chlorophyllum_ for example, used to be in _Lepiota_.