The Wood Mushroom (Agaricus sylvicola) is a large, pale woodland mushroom with a smooth white cap that turns yellow and then brown where it is handled. Its smell of aniseed or almonds is one of the best clues. The crowded gills pass from white through greyish-pink to dark brown, and the white stem has a bulbous base and a large, easily torn ring with cogwheel-like scales underneath.
It grows in coniferous and broadleaf woodland, often in scattered troops, from late spring into early winter, and is widespread and frequent.
Its white cap makes it a dangerous double of the deadly Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa) and Deathcap (Amanita phalloides), which have white gills and a bag-like volva at the stem base. The poisonous Yellow Stainer (Agaricus xanthodermus) turns bright yellow at the base and smells of ink. The Wood Mushroom is edible, but only for experienced collectors.
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Distribution
Widespread and frequent
Habitat
In some areas, always in coniferous or broadleaved woodlands
Etymology
Agaricus is from the Greek agarikon, an old word for a mushroom. sylvicola is Latin for 'woodland dweller'.
Cap
The cap is white, 7-11 cm across, convex then expanding, with a smooth to fibrillose or finely scaly surface. It turns yellow and then brown after being handled, and ages towards yellow.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Shape | Convex, Expanded |
| Surface | Smooth, Fibrillose, Squamose |
| Width | 7 - 11 cm |
Gills
Free and crowded; white at first, then greyish-pink, finally dark brown.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Spacing | crowded |
Flesh
The flesh is white to pale yellow, faintly yellowish at the stem base. It smells of aniseed or almonds and has a mild taste.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Odour | Aniseed or almonds |
| Taste | Mild |
Stem
The stem is white, 7-10 cm long and 7-15 mm wide, with a bulbous base and a floccose surface. The pendant ring sits high on the stem, with cogwheel scales on the underside, and is easily torn.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Height | 7 - 10 cm |
| Width | 7 - 15 mm |
| Texture | Fluccose |
| Shape | Bulbous |
| Veil | pendant |
| Veil position | apical |
Macrochemicals
The cap surface gives a positive reaction to KOH.
Spores
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Shape | Ellipsoid |
| Ornamentation | Smooth |
| Size | 5-7.7 x 3.5-4.8 μm |
Microscopic Features
| Cheilocystidia | Ovoid, Subglobose |
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Classification
- ↳ Phylum: Basidiomycota
- ↳ Subphylum: Agaricomycotina
- ↳ Class: Agaricomycetes
- ↳ Subclass: Agaricomycetidae
- ↳ Order: Agaricales
- ↳ Family: Agaricaceae
- ↳ Genus: Agaricus
Synonyms
- Agaricus silvicola (Vittad.) Peck
Reference Sources
T. Læssøe, J. H. Peterson (2019) Fungi of Temperate Europe Vol. 1. Princeton University Press.
R. Phillips (2006) Mushrooms. Macmillan.
G. Kibby (2021) Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain & Europe Vol. 3. Geoffrey Kibby.
