Fool's conecap vs haymaker's mushroom: two small brown lawn mushrooms, one deadly

Quick answer

The fool's conecap drops a rusty brown spore print and has a small membranous ring on its stem; the haymaker's mushroom drops a darker, dark brown to purplish brown print and has no ring. The haymaker's gills are brown and mottled with whitish edges, and its cap dries paler in bands.

Deadly lookalike

The fool's conecap is deadly.

Unlike the haymaker's mushroom, the fool's conecap (Pholiotina rugosa) contains deadly amatoxins, according to MykoWeb's California Fungi, and the Bay Area Mycological Society lists it with the amatoxin species. Amatoxin symptoms usually begin 6 to 24 hours after eating with vomiting and diarrhea, followed by an apparent recovery and then liver damage from about 72 hours. The haymaker's mushroom is not highly toxic, according to the University of British Columbia's Mushrooms Up! guide, which warns that a rusty brown print with a ring points to amatoxin-containing Galerina or Conocybe species.

If someone has eaten a wild mushroom and feels unwell, or may have eaten one of these, call poison control now: 1-800-222-1222 in the US. Do not wait for symptoms.

Side by side

The tell for each

Pholiotina rugosa

Photo coming

Deadly
Fool's ConecapPholiotina rugosa

The tellTiny orange-brown conical cap on a thin stem with a small movable ring, in lawns, mulch and wood chips.

The underside of a haymaker's mushroom showing dark brown gills around a pale stem, against green leaves
Mildly toxic
Haymaker's MushroomPanaeolus foenisecii

The tellA small brown bell-shaped cap in lawns that dries paler in bands, with mottled brown gills and a dark brown spore print.

How they differ

Differences between the fool's conecap and the haymaker's mushroom
FeatureFool's ConecapHaymaker's Mushroom
Spore printFool's ConecapDull rusty brown, lighter than the haymaker's.Haymaker's MushroomDark brown to purplish brown.
RingFool's ConecapA small membranous ring in the upper half that can fall off.Haymaker's MushroomNone.
GillsFool's ConecapPale, then rusty brown.Haymaker's MushroomBrown and mottled, with whitish edges.
CapFool's ConecapConical to bell-shaped, orange-brown to tawny, lined at the edge when moist.Haymaker's MushroomBell-shaped, dark to reddish brown, drying to tan in a band or from the center.
StemFool's ConecapThin and fragile, whitish to pale brown.Haymaker's MushroomThin, fragile and hollow, snapping easily.
ToxinFool's ConecapAmatoxins.Haymaker's MushroomNot highly toxic; psilocybin reports mostly unconfirmed.

FAQ

Common questions

Is the haymaker's mushroom poisonous?

Field guides list it as inedible to mildly toxic. Older reports of psilocybin have not been confirmed by most later analyses.

How do you identify small brown lawn mushrooms?

By spore print color and whether there is a ring. The University of British Columbia's Mushrooms Up! guide notes that a rusty or cinnamon-brown print with a ring may mean an amatoxin species, though rings can be fragile and disappear.

Sources

Where these facts come from

  1. Pholiotina rugosa

    MushroomExpert.com

  3. Panaeolina foenisecii, lawnmower's mushroom (Mushrooms Up!)

    Beaty Biodiversity Museum, University of British Columbia

Keep checking

Read both pages in full

This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.

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