Wow… With always coming across False Parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites) after False Parasol with their familiar green spore print, I never thought I’d actually find a real Parasol. Sure enough, though, when my wife and I were taking a walk with her parents (and of course, Eli was in tow) on Labor Day, she pointed out some mushrooms that were growing under a random conifer in a neighbor’s yard, so I grabbed one and took it back with us. It had been nearly two weeks since we had a good rain, so finding new mushrooms was rather rare in the parched weather.
At first I thought, “Yeah, it’s a False Parasol” but then I figured, “What the heck? Let’s take it back and print it.” When I snapped off the cap from the stem I was a bit surprised at the orange bruising (which C. molybdites does not do), and was absolutely thrilled when the print came back white.
I’d found a Chlorophyllum rhacodes: The Shaggy Parasol Mushroom. A choice edible in Europe (with some exceptions due to allergic reactions).
Unfortunately at the point of my discovery, it was too old to eat, but hey! I’ve got spores now!
I’ll be putting together an article together about it soon in my Fungi section.