Species flashcards

Description

Cap: 10–30 cm across; hemispherical when young, soon broadly spreading. Whitish, with the margin infolded for a long time; the surface is radially fibrous or finely scaly, often resembling crocodile skin.

Gills: Dense and free. Pale pink to greyish pink when young, then purplish brown and finally dark brown.

Stem: 6–12 cm tall and up to 3.5 cm thick, stout, cylindrical or slightly ventricose, white. Often pinkish above the well-developed, hanging ring and whitish woolly below it. The lower surface of the ring has a spoke-like pattern.

Flesh: Thick, white, and may brown when cut or bruised. Pleasantly scented of anise or bitter almond, with a mild taste.

Spores: Spore print brown. Spores smooth, thick-walled, ellipsoid, 9–11 × 5–6.5 µm.

Occurrence: A saprotrophic species, chiefly in grazed meadows, fields, grassy places, woodland edges and parks. It occurs from May to October and is uncommon.

Edibility: Edible and marketable, with good culinary value. Expert identification is recommended before consumption.

Lookalikes: It resembles the horse mushroom, which is usually smaller. It may also be confused with the poisonous yellow stainer; strongly yellowing specimens with an unpleasant phenolic or ink-like smell must not be eaten.

Note: Agaricus derives from the Ancient Greek „agarikon”, a name used by Dioscorides for a fungus growing on wood. crocodilinus is a Latin adjective formed from the Greek word for crocodile, referring to the cap's scaly, crocodile-skin-like surface.

Species description: Scientifically described by William Alphonso Murrill in 1912.

Taxonomy

1. PhylumBasidiomycota
2. ClassAgaricomycetes
3. OrderAgaricales
4. FamilyAgaricaceae
5. GenusAgaricus

• Species: Agaricus crocodilinus
• Authority: William Alphonso Murrill (1912)
• English name: Crocodile agaricus
• Ecological status: saprotrophic
• Edibility: edible marketable