Chlorophyllum molybdites
Also called false parasol, green-spored lepiota, vomiter.
The green-spored parasol is a large white lawn mushroom with brown scales and gills that turn gray-green as it matures. It is the mushroom most often behind poisonings reported in North America, usually because it is mistaken for a parasol or a meadow mushroom.
The tell
Large white cap with brown scales on lawns, gills that turn gray-green with age, and a green spore print.
Field marks
Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.
Where and when
Lookalikes
Each card says how to tell the two apart.
Chlorophyllum rhacodes
The shaggy parasol has a white spore print, white gills at all ages and coarser shaggy scales. Its flesh turns orange to red where cut, but green-spored parasol flesh can also redden at the stem base, so the spore print is the clearer difference.
Macrolepiota procera
Parasols have a tall, slender stem with a brown snakeskin pattern, a white spore print and white gills, and usually grow in woods and fields rather than lawns.
Agaricus campestris
Meadow mushrooms are smaller, with pink gills that turn chocolate brown and a dark brown spore print.
Edibility
The green-spored parasol causes severe gastrointestinal poisoning. Field guides record vomiting, diarrhea and cramps beginning one to three hours after the meal, sometimes severe enough to need hospital care. It is the species most often named in mushroom poisoning reports in North America. The toxin has not been fully characterized. Young specimens with white gills are the ones most often mistaken for edible parasols.
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
Yes. It causes severe vomiting and diarrhea within a few hours of being eaten, and some cases need hospital care. It is the mushroom most often named in poisoning reports in North America.
It is a large white mushroom with brown scales on the cap, a thick movable ring, and gills that turn gray-green with age. A spore print is the clearest test: green to grayish olive, where parasols and shaggy parasols leave a white print.
The green-spored parasol feeds on organic matter in soil under grass. It often fruits in rings or arcs after warm summer rain and returns to the same lawns year after year.
Sources
MushroomExpert.com
Missouri Department of Conservation
MykoWeb, California Fungi
Index Fungorum
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