Tufted Wood Mushroom

As with all Agaricus species, gills are free, colour progresses with age from pale-pink to a chocolate color, and spores are dark brown. The stipe has a clear annulus (ring). Cap 4–15 cm wide, and appears brownish due to numerous brownish scales on a white background. The stipe is white, 6–12 cm tall and 0.8–2 cm thick, cylindrical and wider towards the bottom, or ending in a bulb. It is distinguished from similar forest-growing Agaricus mushrooms in that it does not bruise yellowish or reddish when cut, except for the attachment of stalk and cap which may turn slightly pink, and the widening stipe. Taste is mild and earthy, and the mushroom is sometimes regarded as edible; however, other authors treat it as inedible in practice if not in theory because it has a nauseating smell resembling rotten radish, which persists during cooking.

Known to occur in Western and Southern Europe and New Zealand, this uncommon mushroom is found in deciduous or coniferous forest in autumn.