Species flashcards

Description

Cap: Hemispherical to spreading, possibly slightly umbonate in the center, 2-10 cm wide. Color whitish, light ochre-yellowish, pale yellowish-brownish. Mostly bare, sometimes slightly sticky or tile-like cracked. Its margin often has ragged veil remnants.

Gills: Adnate, from pale grayish-brownish to olive-brown. Spore print brownish-yellow.

Stem: Slender, sometimes elongated, 4-10 cm long, 2-15 mm thick. Whitish, yellowish-brownish towards the base, often with root-like mycelial threads at the base. Has a thin, quickly disappearing ring.

Flesh: Firm, slightly fibrous in the stem. White, slightly brownish towards the stem base.

Spore: Brown, 7.5-10 x 5-6μm, elliptical, oval, smooth.

Occurrence: In grassy places, forests, meadows, parks, gardens, but also around houses. From early spring, common in many places.

Edibility: Floury taste and smell. Edible, but has no particular significance.

Confusion: Can be confused with many other whitish-capped mushrooms, even the white death cap, but its olive-brown gills distinguish it from similar other species. However, it can be confused with the young white deadly fibrecap, because its gill color is similar to that of the spring fieldcap, but fibrecaps have radially fibrous caps, and they have no ring. It resembles the edible pale brittlestem, but its gills are darker, lilac, and it has no ring. It is also similar to its smaller relative, the yellow fieldcap, whose cap is yellowish-brown, yellow or yellowish-white, and its gills are darker, yellowish-brown. It also resembles the fairy ring champignon somewhat, so it is sometimes collected instead of it.

Note: The agrocybe name comes from the words agro - fields, and cybe - head or cap. praecox is a Latin word meaning: early developing or early appearing, which is briefly - precocious.

Species description: When Christiaan Hendrik Persoon first described this mushroom in 1800 (Agaricus praecox), most gilled mushrooms were members of the Agaricus genus. The currently accepted scientific name Agrocybe praecox was given by the Swiss mycologist Victor Fayod (1860-1900) in 1889. It became a member of the new genus Agrocybe as Agrocybe praecox, as the type species of the genus.

Taxonomy

1. PhylumBasidiomycota
2. ClassAgaricomycetes
3. OrderAgaricales
4. FamilyStrophariaceae
5. GenusAgrocybe

• Species: praecox
• Described by: (Pers.) Fayod
• Hungarian name: tavaszi rétgomba
• Lifestyle: wood saprotroph, soil saprotroph
• Edibility: edible