Fairy ring champignon

How to recognise it: fairy ring champignon

1. 1

   Distant, non-decurrent gills

2. 2

   Elastic stem – it can be twisted

3. 3

   Blunt umbo on a buff cap

4. 4

   Fairy rings in grass outside forests

Description

Cap

2–5(6) cm, hygrophanous: brownish to reddish-ochre when moist, pale ochre to cream when dry; with a broad blunt umbo, margin striate when moist.

Gills

Gills very DISTANT, broad, whitish to cream, free or emarginate (not decurrent). Spore print white.

Stem

4–8 cm, 3–5 mm, the colour of the cap, very ELASTIC and tough (it can be twisted without breaking), white mycelium at the base.

Flesh

Thin, whitish to pale yellow, does not change colour.

Smell and taste

Smell pleasant, mushroomy (sometimes described as slightly almond-like); taste mild, nutty.

Where and when it grows

Outside forests: meadows, pastures, lawns, roadsides, embankments, forest edges; in great numbers in fairy rings, arcs and rows. Prefers lightly fertilised soils.

Where are conditions good today?

Look-alikes: what it can be mistaken for

• 

  Fool's funnel Poisonous high risk of confusion

  White funnels grow on the same lawns and also form rings. They have CROWDED, decurrent gills, a stiff, brittle stem and a frosted cap without an umbo – severely poisonous (muscarine).

  Step-by-step comparison: Fairy ring champignon or fool's funnel →

In the kitchen

For soups, sauces, omelettes; the tough stems are discarded. Dries excellently and regains its shape well after soaking.

Protection and sale

• Species protection: the species is not protected.
• Sale: the species is on the list of mushrooms approved for sale (it may be sold only with a mushroom inspector’s certificate). Listed in Annex 1 as “twardzioszek przydrożny – Marasmius oreades”.

Where you may pick mushrooms →