Wild Mushroom

In our neighborhood, there is a spot in the grass between the street and the sidewalk where a wild mushroom occasionally appears. Sometimes it is mowed or cut down and sometimes it just withers away. One day on her way out of the development Beverly noticed that it had returned. When she reached her destination, she called me to tell me about it, so I went there and cut it off at ground level so I could photograph it. (Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of the mushroom in place before I removed it.)

This mushroom appears to be a poisonous mushroom that we have tentatively identified as Chlorophyllum molybdites, commonly known as false parasol, green-spored Lepiota, and vomiter. It is frequently found near human habitation, and is described as having a cap that ranges from 3″ to 10″ in diameter. This specimen was nearly 6″ in diameter and the cap was still dome-shaped as it hadn’t flattened out yet. Chlorophyllum molybdites regularly sprouts up as large fairy rings in lawns during summer and fall.

When examined closely, the mushroom cap appears to have had a tan leather-like surface that stretched as the mushroom grew and separated into numerous isolated areas. The gills in the underside are wavy and roughly parallel. Details of these features are shown in the gallery in the Additional Images section below.

All of these are macro images which consist of multiple images combined using Helicon Focus. The details in the Technical Data section below include how many separate photographs make up each of the images. For more information about these techniques and topics please see the Cameras, Lenses, and Equipment and Definitions & Apps pages.

Additional Information

MushroomExpert.com: Chlorophyllum molybdites
Wikipedia: Chlorophyllum molybdites
Wikipedia: Fairy Ring
Tom Volk’s Fungus of the Month

Additional Images

Technical Data