Mildly toxic
Haymaker's Mushroom
Panaeolus foenisecii
The haymaker's mushroom grows in lawns too, but it has no ring, mottled brown gills and a dark brown spore print.
Fool's Conecap
Pholiotina rugosa
Deadly
Also called conocybe filaris, ringed conecap.
The fool's conecap is a tiny orange-brown mushroom with a ring on its thin stem that grows in lawns, gardens and wood chip mulch. It contains amatoxins, the same toxins as the death cap, and is easy to overlook or mistake for other little brown mushrooms.
Pholiotina rugosa
Photo coming
The tell
Tiny orange-brown conical cap on a thin stem with a small movable ring, in lawns, mulch and wood chips.
Field marks
What to look at
Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.
- Cap
- Conical to bell-shaped, flattening with age and often keeping a small central bump. Orange-brown to tawny, fading paler as it dries, with fine lines at the edge when moist.
- Underside
- Gills attached to the stem, fairly close, pale at first and then rusty brown.
- Stem
- Thin and fragile, whitish to pale brown, with a small, membranous, movable ring in the upper half that can fall off.
- Flesh
- Very thin and brownish.
- Spore print
- Dull rusty brown.
- Size
- Cap 0.4 to 1 inch wide (1 to 2.5 cm); stem 1 to 2 inches tall (2.5 to 5 cm).
Where and when
Where and when it grows
- Habitat
- Lawns, gardens, landscaping beds, wood chip mulch and mossy ground.
- Grows on
- Wood chips, mulch, moss and rich soil.
- Season
- Spring through fall, depending on rain.
- Range
- Widespread across North America, reported most often from the Pacific Northwest.
Lookalikes
What the fool's conecap gets confused with
Each card says how to tell the two apart.
Psilocybe species
Psilocybe mushrooms leave a dark purple-brown spore print, and many bruise blue. The fool's conecap leaves a rusty brown print and does not bruise blue.
DeadlyDeadly Galerina
Galerina marginata
The deadly galerina is also rusty-spored with a ring and also contains amatoxins. It is usually larger and grows in clusters on rotting wood.
More side-by-side comparisons
Edibility
What the field guides say
Deadly
The fool's conecap contains amatoxins, the same toxins found in the death cap. They shut down protein production in liver and kidney cells. Symptoms usually begin 6 to 24 hours after the meal with severe vomiting and diarrhea, followed by liver and kidney failure. Field guides list it as deadly and warn of its resemblance to hallucinogenic Psilocybe species.
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.
FAQ
Questions about the fool's conecap
Is Pholiotina rugosa poisonous?
Yes, it is deadly. It contains amatoxins, the same toxins as the death cap, which destroy liver and kidney cells.
What does a fool's conecap look like?
It is a tiny mushroom with a conical orange-brown cap, rusty brown gills and a thin, fragile stem with a small ring. The ring is the feature that separates it from most similar lawn mushrooms.
Where does the fool's conecap grow?
In lawns, gardens, landscaping beds and wood chip mulch, often near houses. It is widespread in North America and reported most often from the Pacific Northwest.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Pholiotina rugosa
MushroomExpert.com
- Pholiotina rugosa
MykoWeb, California Fungi
- Pholiotina rugosa
Index Fungorum
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