 19/8/2010
Mushroom season is now up and running, even in the rain-deprived southeast corner of the UK. As is often the case, I had more success today from the car than I did on foot. This is not just because travelling in a car means you cover more ground in less time, but because roadsides provide both the perfect habitat for many grassland fungi and a handy means of transportation for the spores (car tyres). My first find was a troop of maggot-free field mushrooms, which have also been reported from several other parts of the country in the past few days.
The other two edible species I found today are regularly confused with Clitocybe rivulosa/dealbata. There is some debate as to whether this is one species or two, but either way they are deadly poisonous, and they often grow in rings, which is the primary reason that people sometimes mix them up with the fairy ring champignon (Marasmius oreades.)
This is a rather scrawny looking ring, and you can see a characteristic area of bare patches coinciding with the mushrooms. Most were, unfortunately, past their best for eating, but there were a few worthy of the frying pan.
Although they come with a warning, fairy ring champignons are quite distinct from the deadly Clitocybes, and once you are familiar with the general look of a Clitocybe then you will be able to quite easily tell them apart from the fairy ring champignons. The smell is also deterministic in this case - the fairy rings smell like fresh sawdust.
The same cannot be said of the last mushroom on today's list, Clitocybe gibba (common funnel).
Consuming Clitocybes is not recommended unless you are absolutely certain you can tell the difference between the ones which are good to eat and the ones which are likely to kill you. I have no picture of C. rivulosa or C. dealbata for comparison, since I've not found any since I started taking a camera with me whilst mushrooming, but anyone interested is advised to do some research on those species before considering eating any mushrooms that look like these. As far as consumption is concerned, these aren't everybody's favourite, but I consider them somewhat under-rated. They are a common species, they have pleasant texture and flavour, and if AND ONLY if you're confident of your identification then they are highly recommended.
Geoff
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The 2010 Wild Mushroom Season Has Finally Arrived
