The fungus in your picture DOES look a bit like an Amanita to me - Amanita Phalloides - the Death Cap.
http://www.iamshaman.com/amanita/images/poisoning/deathca2.jpg
I’ve argued strongly on the positive side of enjoying wild mushrooms on this very board, but identification by message board is definitely not a good idea at all.
Mangetout: If you ever visit western Pennsylvania, I’d be happy to give you a place to stay in exchange for some guidance in collection.
My gf just emailed me that her biggest concern about the shroom in my picture is that George Costanza’s head makes anything nearby look unappetizing. 
And when a guy named “Mangetout” says that something shouldn’t be eaten, that’s serious. 
Really, does it? It doesn’t look like a death cap to me at all. In my experience death caps have at least a tinge of yellowish or oliveishness to their cap, and I’ve never known them to have that mild scaliness on the cap exhibited in the OP’s pic. Looks like an agaricus of some sort to me, though that’s not to say I recommend eating it.
Amanita Phalloides can be pretty variable in appearance, but I agree, it’s usually a bit more olive/yellow than the OP’s photo appears, although colour rendition isn’t always necessarily faithful in digital photos.
You may be right - it may be Agaricus, however, the stem looks a bit too moist and pure white for my liking. In any case, trying to ascertain edibility is not something I’d ever be comfortable with in this medium - there are just too many variables - and quite apart from the issues of us identifying the specimens we’re shown, there’s no absolute guarantee that we’ve been shown everything in the basket.
Growing up with my father we went in the woods to pick wild mushrooms every year. The secret to our success was
a) the first times, checking with some local experts on our catches, and
b) sticking with a small number of easily recognizable species.
But with that being said, we had many fine meals with sauteed wild mushrooms.
Yes, to say something on the positive side, there is no comparison between supermarket mushrooms and wild ones… actually, no - let’s attempt a comparison - it’s like the difference between spam and fillet steak.
Identification isn’t ever to be taken lightly though, what I do is similar to what worked for Arnold; I stick to a fairly small number of common species that are very good to eat and very difficult to mistake for anything else.
Expert advice is always good, but a good book can also be useful. I use Roger Phillips ‘Mushrooms and other fungi of Great Britain and Europe’ (linky), and identification is always carried out by comparing ALL (well, nearly all*) listed criteria - habitat, season, smell, texture, appearance, size, association with other plants - I don’t usually use taste as a diagnostic, but if done properly, even the deadly poisonous ones can be tasted (you just take a little bit and spit a lot afterwards) - but I don’t suggest anyone tries that.
If I’m ever even slightly doubtful about the identity of a fungus, I just don’t pick it for the table. I’m sure I’ve passed up many a fine meal that way, but I always err on the side of caution.
I went to site because of an article on morel mushrooms. I liked this guy’s expertise. Read some of the articles about what poisonous ones do. You’ll be glad you didn’t eat those ones you found. I found out we have truffles in Wisconsin. I thought only a couple coastal states did.
I had a book on wild mushrooms, but by the time I carefully tested every mushroom I picked, the mushrooms were ruined.
The best step is to find out whether there are mycologist clubs in your area, and you learn a lot by going out mushroom picking with field experts. It’s the only way I would dare do it myself, at this point.
“Looking good enough to eat” just doesn’t cut it, when it comes to mushrooms that can possibly kill or seriously harm you.
I got a few of these growing in a clump in a flowerbed a few years back. Talk about mushrooms you NEVER want to see growing in your yard. The stench…Stinkhorn
The webbing is quite fascinating, it looks almost unearthly.
I left this thread open, because maybe, deep down, someone may be saved a lot of grief and pain. You guys haven’t dissapointed me. Thanks.
samclem GQ moderator
There is a FANTASTIC timelapse clip (complete with the veil coming out) of some sort of jungle stinkhorn fruiting in the Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth in the “Jungles” episode.
Yes, it would make Jack Dean Tyler leap for joy.
BTW, Stinkhorns (or at least the common one here - Phallus impudicus) are apparently edible when very young and still in the ‘egg’ stage, but that one’s so far down my list of ‘things I really ought to try eating’, I expect to die of old age before it reaches the top.
One could add to this list the “unresolved fuzzy objects” so familiar to amateur astronomers. Could be a comet, could be a nebula, could be a cluster, could be a galaxy, could be a smudge in your optics.
Only a few species of fungi are dangerous; only a few are truly good to eat. The rest are in the category “won’t cause you much trouble, but also not worth fooling with.”
In western PA, the principal really worthwhile edible varieties are morels, chanterelles, boletes and chicken mushrooms. All of these have the advantage that they are easy to tell from dangerous varieties. But you’ll still need a good field guide and some competent guidance.
