What mushroom might this be...

I'm curious what the mushroom in the photo could be. They show up intermittently under a large Big Leaf Maple, however, our goose shelter in there and I mulch with all sorts of mixed wood.

So if anyone has any ideas, that would be great.

That looks like a Shaggy Parasol (Chlorophyllum rhacodes), which is an excellent edible. You would want to confirm it has white spores, via spore print, if you had any intention of eating it. It does have a look-alike nicknamed 'The Vomiter', so if the print shows greenish-grey spores, toss them out unless you are looking for a strong purgative.

Thanks Christopher! They pop up indiscriminately in that area every so often, so the next time I see one, I'll take a spore print.

I'm always happy to find and test another wild edible on my homestead. I often try and spread them to more similar habitats in the hope the useful things will out-compete some of the dangerous or invasive things.

Jay Angler wrote:Thanks Christopher! They pop up indiscriminately in that area every so often, so the next time I see one, I'll take a spore print.

I'm always happy to find and test another wild edible on my homestead. I often try and spread them to more similar habitats in the hope the useful things will out-compete some of the dangerous or invasive things.

Glad to be of assistance. I don't recall where, but I've read of people using low tech tricks to spread them; spore slurrys, using the butts to grow mycelium on cardboard, so believe it can be done.

It should also show red when the stem is pulled from the cap or when the cap is sliced.  

I have them coming up under a spruce each year.

Kevin Hoover wrote:It should also show red when the stem is pulled from the cap or when the cap is sliced.

Thank you very much for posting the picture - they really do look the same as what I found. The next time some of them pop up, I will try the stem pulling trick and see what colour I see.

We've had very little rain this year, so things have dried out quickly. I doubt I'll see many mushrooms for a while.

So Mother Nature made a liar of me - but I can really only blame myself! As I mentioned, the goose shelter is near the tree, and geese need water, and they spill lots of that water... so, by the very edge of the goose shelter, I spotted a group of tightly packed mushrooms that haven't opened much yet. I picked one and broke off the cap and here's the picture:


In the hopes the colour I'm seeing qualifies as "red" - sort of more orangie to my eyes - I took the stem part and made a slurry and spread it at the base of a Hazelnut tree near the house - there are also Maple trees fairly nearby, but they're harder to get to due to a ditch. Hopefully, they will grow in this new spot also.