Arvenses     Section

This is a key to gilled mushrooms, that is, mushrooms having a definite cap with a fertile surface consisting of gills. The fruiting body usually also has a stem, although that may be lateral or absent (usually, then, the mushroom is growing from wood). You can use this key to identify mushrooms that you find.

Fruiting body containing fibers (usually in the stalk)

Gills free
Spore print chocolate brown
Annulus almost always present, usually membranous
The gills are usually pink or silvery-grey at first, but are colored chocolate brown at maturity from the developing spores
The cap and stalk are usually some sort of white or greyish brown, but may have fibrils or scales that are darker (like the portobello)
Growing on the ground, wood chips, or other organic debris

Diagnosis

• Cap up to 7" across
  
• Flesh stains or ages yellow, and stays yellow (on its own, or with KOH)
  
• Partial veil usually has two distinct layers.
  
• Mature fruiting body usually quite tall (stem 5-10" long), and often quite wide as well
  
• Odor sweet, usually almondy, sometimes of anise, but different people will sometimes perceive it differently
  
• The gills are greyish at first, not pink

Narrow down your identification:

• Cap up to 6" across, sometimes slightly silky
  
• Stalk long and gracile in proportion to the cap
  
• Yellowing reaction and scent usually discreet
  
• Usually in troops in the woods

• Stem robust in proportion to the cap
  
• Cap glabrous or fibrillose, but not silky (although the cap is sometimes shiny)
  
• Scent sometimes quite strong
  
• Usually in grass or wood chips

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