Comparison
Field mushroom or deadly fibrecap? How to tell them apart
Field mushroom is an edible mushroom, while the deadly fibrecap is a deadly poisonous mushroom. Compare the two mushrooms point by point.
White young fruit bodies growing along roads and in parks may resemble young field mushrooms; the field mushroom has pink, then chocolate-brown gills, a ring, and does not turn red along its fibres.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Field mushroom | Deadly fibrecap |
|---|---|---|
| Edibility | Edible | Deadly poisonous |
| Cap | 5–12 cm, hemispherical when young, then flat; white, grey-ochre with age, smooth, silky or finely scaly; does not turn yellow when pressed, or only slightly. | 3–9 cm, white to cream when young, with age or when damaged blotched brick-red to cinnabar; conical-convex with an umbo, silky, fibrillose, the margin splits radially. |
| Under the cap | Gills free, crowded; pink in young specimens, then chocolate-brown to blackish-brown. Spore print chocolate-brown. | Gills whitish, then olive-rusty, turning red when damaged; fairly crowded, emarginate. Spore print ochre-brown. |
| Stem | 4–8 cm, white, short, solid, easily broken off; a delicate, quickly vanishing ring; no bulb and no volva. | 5–10(20) cm, white, pink to cinnabar with age (especially at the base), fibrous, without a distinct bulb or with a small bulb. |
| Flesh | White, turning slightly pink in places when cut; does not turn yellow. | White, turning pink in the stem; whole fruit bodies turn red when touched. |
| Smell and taste | Smell lightly mushroomy, without a note of carbolic or aniseed; taste pleasant. | Smell sweetish, fruity (unpleasant in old fruit bodies); DO NOT TASTE. |
| Habitat | Saprotrophic; meadows, pastures (especially those fertilised with manure, e.g. horse manure), fields, roadside ditches; less often parks and forest edges. | Broadleaf forests, parks, scrub and roadsides, mainly under beech, oak, lime and hornbeam, on calcareous or neutral soils; sometimes under pine. |
| Season | May, June, July, August, September, October | May, June, July, August, September |
How to recognise it: field mushroom
- Gills pink in young specimens, then chocolate-brown – never permanently white
- Dark brown spore print
- Grows in meadows and pastures, not deep in the forest
- Does not turn yellow when rubbed or cut, does not smell of carbolic
- No volva at the stem base
How to recognise it: deadly fibrecap
- White mushroom that reddens/blotches brick-red
- Radially split, fibrous cap
- Brown (not white) spore print
- Late spring–summer under beeches and limes on limestone
Safety rule
Never eat a mushroom identified only from a website, a photo or an app. Show any doubtful specimen to a certified mushroom inspector at the sanepid (state sanitary inspection); in season the advice points are free. Do not give wild-picked mushrooms to children.
The golden rules of foraging →Frequently asked questions
Field mushroom or deadly fibrecap: how can you tell them apart?
White young fruit bodies growing along roads and in parks may resemble young field mushrooms; the field mushroom has pink, then chocolate-brown gills, a ring, and does not turn red along its fibres.
Deadly fibrecap: what to do if you have eaten it?
Call 112 at once or go to A&E (SOR), and take any leftover mushrooms with you. Muscarine – muscarinic syndrome: sweating, salivation, tearing, constricted pupils, visual disturbances, vomiting, colic, slowed heart rate; rapid onset, from approx. 15 min to a few hours. Antidote: atropine. Death is possible (especially in people with heart and respiratory diseases).
Sources
- Wikipedia (pl): Pieczarka łąkowa
- grzyby.pl (M. Snowarski): Agaricus campestris
- First Nature: Agaricus campestris, Field Mushroom
- Włókniak ceglasty – Wikipedia (PL)
- Inocybe erubescens – Atlas grzybów Polski (grzyby.pl, M. Snowarski)
- Inocybe erubescens – First Nature
Last checked: 9 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Write to us.