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Mushrooms in the Yard: To Eat or Not to Eat has been a
Common Question
Turf Tips
Authors
Curtis E. Young
Published on
September 8, 2016
With the return of more regular rains in some areas of Ohio, mushroom production in lawns
seems to be going gang busters. Some view these mushrooms as a mere nuisance, some are
freaked out by their presence, and some want to make a meal out of them. STOP! One must
have an absolute, positive identification before dining on these "free" mushrooms.
Ringless honey mushroom clusters growing in a lawn attached to a source of bury wood such
as a tree root.
Identification of some of these mushrooms is easier than others. For example, it is expected
that ringless honey mushrooms (Armillaria tabescens) will soon be popping up in many
landscapes across Ohio. These mushrooms are wood decomposing fungi and are associated
with dead and dying trees, stumps and buried roots of standing trees and trees that were
removed years in the past. Ringless honey mushrooms grow in clusters where multiple
mushroom stalks emerge from a common central growing point. They typically are tan to brown
in color, have gills attached to and sometimes extending down part of the stalk, produce white
spores, and lack an annulus ring around the stalk. The honey mushrooms are said to be edible
in many field guides, but others have reported prolonged gastrointestinal distress after
consuming them. The operative words for eating this one would be, approach with caution, be
certain of your identification, and sample very small quantities at first until you know how your
body will respond to this mushroom.
Ringless honey mushroom clusters growing at the base of a dead tree stump.
Ringless honey mushroom stalks growing from a shared central growing point (Note: decurrent
gills connected to stalks and no annulus ring).
Ringless honey mushrooms produce white colored spores that can be seen on the ground
beneath their caps.
The decision to eat or not to eat other species of mushrooms that pop up in and around Ohio
landscapes is much easier to make…DON'T EAT THEM!! Curtis Young has discovered two of
them in NW Ohio over the past couple of weeks. These two mushrooms are the green-spored
parasol or lepiota (Chlorophyllum molybdites) and the death angel or destroying angel amanita (
Amanita bisporigera).
Young green-spored parasol mushrooms with ball-shaped caps making them look like
microphones in the lawn.
The green-spored parasol is a large mushroom some of them standing up to 14" tall with caps
10-12" in diameter. The cap starts out more or less round (ball-like) and is 2-4" in diameter,
eventually expanding until it is nearly flat. The cap is dry and white, and has brownish patches
that develop into scales, especially near the center of the cap. The flesh inside the cap is thick
and white. The gills are initially white, becoming greenish to greenish gray as the mushroom
matures. The gills are initially covered by a white, membranous partial veil that usually persists
as a ring of tissue around the upper stalk and may be moveable. Its stalk is smooth and white,
3-14" in height and about 1/2-1" in diameter, sometimes slightly thickened toward the bottom
end and no volva. Its spore print is green to grayish-green.
Green-spored parasol mushrooms after a few days of growth showing the caps flattening out.
They look like they would make a fantastic "portabella" sandwich. However, if one eats these
green-spored parasol mushrooms, they will be green around the gills just like the mushrooms.
Green-spored parasols can be mistaken for another mushroom that frequently emerges at the
same time, the meadow mushroom (Agaricus campestris). Meadow mushrooms can also be
large in size, but their gills start out pink and turn a dark brown as spore production occurs.
Grey-green spores deposited on cap of neighboring mushroom where the two caps had overlapped.
Grey-green gills of a green-spored parasol mushroom in full spore production.
Symptoms of green-spored parasol poisoning are mostly gastrointestinal in nature. A quote
from a mushroom web page composed by Tom Volk of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
describes the potential of this mushroom. "According to Dennis Benjamin (Mushrooms:
poisonings and panaceas, 1995, W.H. Freeman and Company, 422 pp.) 'In some individuals the
gastrointestinal syndrome, which occurs about 1 - 3 hours after the meal, can be very severe,
especially the colicky abdominal pain, which can mimic that of a 'surgical' abdomen. Symptoms
persist for up to six hours, and even longer in a few patients. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
complete the picture. The diarrhea can be explosive in nature and become bloody.' You
probably won't die from eating this mushroom (although there is one recorded fatality involving a
child), but it's certainly not a pleasant dining experience - So be very careful if you plan on
eating any Lepiota species. Projectile diarrhea would not be very much fun."
A young destroying angel mushroom emerging from the soil (Note the volva surrounding the
base of the stalk).
Destroying angels are much, much worse than the green-spored parasols. The unfortunate
sole who consumes destroying angel mushrooms frequently does not survive the poisoning to
learn from the experience. The destroying angel is stark white in color. It usually is several
inches tall and possesses a prominent sack (volva) around the base of the stalk. Its cap starts
out bell-shaped, but flattens out with age. Some caps become convex in shape with the outer
edges curling upwards. Its gills are free or nearly free from the stalk. Its stalk has a persistent,
thin, high, skirt-like ring near the cap and a white, sack-like volva encasing the base, which may
be underground or broken up. They can grow singularly or in scattered groups.
A mature destroying angel mushroom showing major field characteristics such as pure white
color, high skirt-like annulus, and volva at base of the stalk.
Close-up view of the volva characteristic of the Amanita mushrooms which is typically buried in
the soil.
At the following link is quite an interesting story of surviving (barely) a destroying angel
mushroom poisoning of a bold (careless) mushroom hunter:
https://blog.mycology.cornell.edu/2006/11/22/i-survived-the-destroying-angel/
Tags
mushrooms
ringless honey mushrooms
destroying angel mushrooms
green-spored parasol mushrooms
More Information
Crazy About Mushrooms ringless honey mushroom page
http://blog.crazyaboutmushrooms.com/ringless-honey-mushroom/
Mushroom Expert ringless honey mushroom page
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/armillaria_tabescens.html
Mushroom Expert green-spored parasol page
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/chlorophyllum_molybdites.html
American Mushrooms green-spored parasol page
http://americanmushrooms.com/taxa/Chlorophyllum_molybdites_02g_Martha_Edley.htm
Tom Volk's Mushroom of the Month green-spored parasol
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/aug99.html
Mushroom Expert destroying angel page
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/amanita_bisporigera.html
Tom Volk's Mushroom of the Month destroying angels
http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/sept97.html