Shaggy Parasol

Chlorophyllum rhacodes

The Shaggy parasol is the common name for three closely related species of mushroom, ''Chlorophyllum rhacodes'', ''C. olivieri'' and ''C. brunneum'', found in North America, Europe and Southern Africa .
shaggy parasol Chlorophyllum rhacodes,Fall,Geotagged,Shaggy Parasol,United States

Appearance

The shaggy parasol is a large and conspicuous agaric, with thick brown scales and protuberances on its fleshy white cap. The gills and spore print are both white in colour. Its stipe is slender, but bulbous at the base, is coloured uniformly and bears no patterns. It is fleshy, and a reddish, or maroon discoloration occurs and a pungent odour is evolved when it is cut. The egg-shaped caps become wider and flatter as they mature.

The stipe of ''C. rhacodes'' grows to 10 to 20 cm tall and has a diameter of 1 to 2 centimetres. The cap grows to 7.5 to 20 cm across,
Shaggy Parasol - Chlorophyllum rhacodes Australia,Chlorophyllum rhacodes,Eamw fungi,Geotagged,Shaggy Parasol,Winter

Naming

The shaggy parasol is similar in appearance to the similarly edible parasol mushroom, ''Macrolepiota procera''. The latter grows considerably larger however, and is more likely to be found in the open than ''C. rhacodes'' which prefers more shade and dislikes open pastures and fields. Another distinguishing feature is that ''C. rhacodes'' lacks the brown bands that are on the stem of ''M. procera''.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.