Species details
Common mushroom
Agaricus bisporus
Traditionally edible
Photo: Jerzy Opioła · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo source · License
Description
The world's main cultivated Agaricus, also found outdoors on rich organic soils; young gills are pink and later chocolate brown.
Identification features
The cap reaches about 10 cm, white to tobacco-brown and sometimes brown-scaled. Gills are free, first pink then reddish-brown to dark brown. The stem is short and stout with a white ring.
Identification checklist
Check free gills maturing from pink to chocolate brown, a white ring, and the absence of strong yellow staining and phenolic odour.
How to separate similar species
Poisonous yellow-staining Agaricus, especially A. xanthodermus, can cause gastrointestinal illness. Strong yellowing and an unpleasant phenolic smell are warning signs.
Habitat
Outdoors on very rich soils, in gardens, pastures, roadsides and manured places, in summer and autumn.
Fruiting period
June, July, August, September, October