Cemetery Agaricus and some extras

I’m still two months behind and I’m in big trouble, this has been a fabulous mushroom summer of lots of rain and moderate temperatures, there’s so much coming up in the woods it’s just nuts! We’re not even to the prettiest stuff I’ve already found!

There was a mini-drought that lasted about 2-3 weeks and I was scared, but that was weeks ago and it’s just been rain and nice and rain and nice ever since.

These are from the first week of June--

Agaricus campestris 6-1-2013

Found these in the cemetery behind the barbecue place. There’s often mushrooms in cemeteries. Don't eat cemetery mushrooms, the grounds are probably treated with weed killer and stuff.

What looks like a deep shadow on the cap, above, is a shadow combined with very dark spores that have dropped onto it.



Agaricus campestris ring. It was so delicate the slightest breeze was blowing it around.

One thing I picked up while working out the ID on this one is if you find a mushroom growing on a big weed-free expanse of grass, don’t eat it. Think weed killer.



The gills and cap flesh, and tiny tunnels from larvae eating their way around. Some life, eh? Note the really tiny tunnels on the gill.

This is my summer to be plagued with confusion by mushrooms with tan caps, tan, pink or brown gills and a ring. I think I’m starting to sort them out. There’s a fine bunch of online mushroom people who help me out when I just get dizzy. I bug them as a last resort. If I had about 25 more mushroom books I might not have to bug them at all…



Marasmius sullivantii, which minutes after posting I discovered I had misidentified, because a kind soul who shall remain nameless but is famous in the world of mushroom hunters just sent me a message with the correction.

Here's what I thought it was--

I had done that thing we amateurs do where I found something close, so I forced it to match the description even though there were discrepancies in the text and the images, which I attributed to an idiosyncrasy of this particular mushroom's life. That just never works when it comes to identifying mushrooms!

Also I carefully glossed over the growing region when I was reading the description. Never grows here. All in all, a good thing, reminded me to be clinical when it comes to working out mushroom ID.



Helvella latispora, one of the “elfin saddles.”



Crucibulum laeve with peridioles telegraphing through unopened lids. I don’t see this very often and wonder if it was a factor of things going slightly wrong. Maybe they were trouping along with great vigor but then that mini-drought hit and foiled their plans.

Stay tuned for more pics and not many words! So many mushrooms!

Oh, but there will be many words about that stinkhorn…