Common Edible Mushrooms

1COMMON EDIBLE MUSHROOMS
grown specimens of these two species mixed together and then
be asked to pick out the good ones and eat them, it is likely that
he would soon realize painfully how unreliable are his rules.
Lepiota morgani (Figures 29 and 30 and Plate 3C) usually comes
up in the spring. The spores, in a spore print on white paper, are
pale green, and the gills of a mature plant are also pale green, but
those of young, partly expanded specimens are white. L. rachodes,
on the other hand (Figures 31 and 32 and Plate 30) usually comes
Figure 30. Lepiota morgani, green gills. Poisonous but not fatal.
up in the fall. The spore print is white, the gills of young plants are
white, and they remain so or become pale tan in old specimens.
The two species grow in similar locations, especially pastures and
other grassy places, sometimes in fairy rings. Sometimes both
come up at the same time, even intermingled with one another.
They can be identified with certainty only by making a spore
print, and this means making a sport print of each specimen!
Severe cases of poisoning by L. morgani are not uncommon, and
since even people who consider themselves rather expert amateur
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