Any ideas as to what this is ?

[bowman]

I have some of these growing in my greenhouse.



It's about golfball size with soft spiked skin and has a strong mushroom smell to it.

Any info? Poisonous, edible or whatever.

Rick

[NickCantle]

Ah, i do believe i've posted a specimen similar. You can find it here http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga...imageuser=4383

Unfortunately, I still have no positive Id but maybe we will resolve it here

Nick

[cybershot]

If there is any elm planking in your greenhouse a long shot could be Wrinkled Peach - Rhodotus palmatus.

David

[bowman]

No elm planking. Just pine boards (fast rotting)

[Fungus Ken]

I would agree with Nick that this is probably related to his unnamed specimen.

Nick's images don't show the base of the stem very clearly but I doubt there was a volva at the base, which would rule out Amanita. Also in Amanita the gills are usually attached to the stem, even if only finely adnexed. I think a close look would show the gills were actually free, although you can't be sure from the photos. The gills have remained pale in what is a relatively mature specimen so this rules out Agaricus.

Free gills, pale (whitish to cream) spore print, ring on the stem and no volva suggests a Lepiota or one of the related genera.

Actually a name had been suggested for Nick's specimen by PMG (who I know because she is based in the North West) and I would agree with her that it is probably one of the species in the Lepiota aspera complex, which can really only be sorted microscopically.

The photo above is not right for Rhodotus palmatus, which has a wrinkled gelatinous cap, rather than a scaly one.

It looks more Lepiota-like to me. Lepiota is also often a good bet in greenhouses and you can relatively frequently come across some exotic species such as the yellow Leucocoprinus birbaumii.

It should be possible to narrow the options down by confirming the presence of a ring, free gills and a pale spore print. After that it becomes more tricky. There seems to be a lot of colour on the cap and stem, which could be a helpful character, but often the colour is deeper in immature mushrooms, and it can become paler as it expands, so you need to see it when more mature.

That's as far as I can go and you probably can't go much further without looking at the spores and the cap cuticle under the microscope.

Ken

[Fungus Ken]

PS My typing was awry - the yellow mushroom now known as the Plantpot Dapperling is Leucocoprinus birnbaumii.

Ken

[bowman]

Whatever it is, there's another coming and it looks as if it will be quite a bit larger.

I think I'll leave it where it is and see what it actually becomes and whilst waiting I'll get some photos along the line.

Rick

[bowman]

Here are a couple of grown up ones

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga...rownupitem.jpg

Rick