Deadly
Destroying Angel
Amanita bisporigera
Destroying angels have white gills at all ages, a white spore print, and a white sac-like cup at the stem base, which can be hidden in soil. They contain amatoxins.
Meadow Mushroom
Agaricus campestris
Edible
Also called field mushroom, pink bottom.
The meadow mushroom is the wild relative of the supermarket button mushroom: a white cap with pink gills that age to chocolate brown, on a short stem with a thin ring. It grows in lawns and pastures, and its deadliest lookalikes are the white amanitas.
The tell
White cap on a short stem, with bright pink gills that turn chocolate brown, growing in grass.
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
- Rounded, then convex to flat, white to grayish white, smooth to silky or with fine fibers or small scales. Dry, not sticky.
- Underside
- Gills free from the stem, crowded, bright pink when young, turning chocolate brown and then blackish brown. Very young buttons are covered by a thin white veil.
- Stem
- Short, white, smooth, tapering slightly toward the base, with a thin, fragile ring that often disappears. No bulb and no cup.
- Flesh
- Firm and white, sometimes turning slightly pinkish when cut. It does not turn bright yellow. Smell pleasant.
- Spore print
- Chocolate brown.
- Size
- Cap 1 to 4 inches wide (2.5 to 10 cm); stem 1 to 2.5 inches tall (2.5 to 6 cm).
Where and when
Where and when it grows
- Habitat
- Lawns, pastures, meadows, parks and golf courses, in open grass.
- Grows on
- Soil in grass.
- Season
- Late summer through fall; fall and winter in California.
- Range
- Widespread across North America.
Lookalikes
What the meadow mushroom gets confused with
Each card says how to tell the two apart.
Toxic lookalikeYellow Stainer
Agaricus xanthodermus
The yellow stainer turns bright chrome yellow when its cap is scratched or the stem base is cut, and smells of ink or phenol. It causes gastrointestinal poisoning.
ToxicGreen-Spored Parasol
Chlorophyllum molybdites
The green-spored parasol is larger, with brown scales on the cap, white gills that turn gray-green, and a green spore print.
DeadlyDeath Cap
Amanita phalloides
Death caps have a greenish to olive cap, white gills, a white spore print and a sac-like cup at the base. They grow under trees rather than in open grass.
More side-by-side comparisons
Edibility
What the field guides say
Edible
Field guides list the meadow mushroom as edible. The same guides record its dangerous lookalikes: white Amanita species such as the destroying angel, which contain amatoxins and have white gills and a cup at the base, and the yellow stainer, which causes gastrointestinal upset. Pink to brown gills and a chocolate brown spore print separate the meadow mushroom from the amanitas.
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 meadow mushroom
Are wild meadow mushrooms edible?
Field guides list Agaricus campestris as edible. Its deadly lookalikes are white amanitas, which have white gills and a cup at the base, and its toxic lookalike is the yellow stainer, which bruises bright yellow.
How do you tell a meadow mushroom from a destroying angel?
Meadow mushrooms have pink gills that turn chocolate brown and leave a dark brown spore print. Destroying angels have white gills, a white spore print and a sac-like cup at the stem base, often buried in soil.
Where do meadow mushrooms grow?
In open grass: lawns, pastures, meadows, parks and golf courses. They appear after rain in late summer and fall, and in fall and winter in California.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Agaricus campestris
MushroomExpert.com
- Meadow Mushroom
Missouri Department of Conservation
- Agaricus campestris
MykoWeb, California Fungi
- Agaricus campestris
Index Fungorum
Also on Mushrooms.id
Related species
Agaricus bisporus
Photo coming
Edible
Button Mushroom
Agaricus bisporus
Free gills that turn from pink to chocolate brown, a ring on the stem, and no cup at the base.
Clitocybe rivulosa
Photo coming
Toxic lookalike
Fool's Funnel
Clitocybe rivulosa
Small white to buff caps in grass, with crowded gills that run down a short stem.
Edible
Horse Mushroom
Agaricus fissuratus
Large white cap that slowly bruises yellowish, grayish pink to brown gills, a large ring with a cogwheel pattern beneath, and an anise smell.
Entoloma sinuatum
Photo coming
Toxic
Livid Pinkgill
Entoloma sinuatum
A large gray cap with yellowish gills that turn pink, a pink spore print and a mealy smell.
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