Yet another Mushroom ID

Arthur Onlum · #1 (**permalink**) 17-10-2010, 12:29 PM

Found this fungus growing at the borders of the lawn today. The caps are about 4cm in diameter, and the fruits are about 5cm tall. This mushroom has gills and they are all pure white in colour.

I've looked in my mushroom books and I can't match it! Any help is appreciated.

bob.phillips · #2 (**permalink**) 17-10-2010, 09:31 PM

Arthur,

Do you know, I have absolutely no idea what is is. I'm a birder myself and I am really surprised that no expert on this site can offer even a glimmer of what it is. All I can say is that, on the Bird site, people put up some fuzzy image of a 'thing' and there are loads of responses. People arguing with each other abot what it is. It's great, and most helpful.

Where is the help here???

Great picture by the way. If it was a bird, I could tell you:-

1. What it was
2. What sex it was
3. Probably what age it was
4. As for the latin name - no idea!!!!
Regards,

Bob P

Chris Yeates · #3 (**permalink**) 17-10-2010, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob.phillips

Where is the help here???
Regards,

Bob P

because fungi are in general a hell of a lot more difficult to identify than birds - if you were dealing with 14,000 species of bird in Britain would you be quite so dismissive?

Chris

SheffieldLass · #4 (**permalink**) 17-10-2010, 09:53 PM

I'd think it is one of the Echinoderma group in/or now separate from the Lepiota genus (depending on which literature you read). Quite spiny scales, white gills, ring/veil points towards them. Maybe something like E. aspera (Lepiota aspera).

Melanie

bob.phillips · #5 (**permalink**) 17-10-2010, 10:00 PM

Chris,

At least a response - which is what the original poster wanted.

Even if the response was - no idea what it is , but I will find out!!

It is like a bit of a void. - and sometimes appears a bit clicky.

My own post on 'what is under my bird feeder' has similarly had no response. So is it such a rare thing that no-one knows what it is. Or is it so commom that it's not worth a response. Or is the photo so bad that it's unrecognisable. Or is it that no one cares??????

I appreciate that there are much more species and varieties of fungi than birds, but this just means that there are even more people out there who have less knowledge on this subject.

Us 'learners' need all the help we can get.

Sorry if I sounded a bit flipant, but we all would like help.

Best regards,

Bob P.

NickCantle · #6 (**permalink**) 18-10-2010, 06:26 AM

Bear in mind Bob that in comparison to most other forums, WAB is extremely fast in helping you get an answer the majority of the time. This was posted yesterday, so people might just be cramming in the research, people might have missed it or people might not actually have a clue- some threads are answered within 5 minutes, some within 5 days. S'just the way it is.

I do appreciate what you're saying, but you can't rush people to answer. I doubt people are going to get upset about having to wait a little more than 9 hours to have a post answered- if they do? That's just how a forum works. I've posted stuff on here and not had any responses for days, but I'm not on a time limit

Anyway, I think Melanie is right when she suggests Lepiota, though I'd instantly dismiss L. aspera due to the size (5cm tall by 4cm cap width)

Nick

Ken Burgess · #7 (**permalink**) 18-10-2010, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob.phillips

It is like a bit of a void. - and sometimes appears a bit clicky.

I appreciate that there are much more species and varieties of fungi than birds, but this just means that there are even more people out there who have less knowledge on this subject.

You have hit the nail on the head with these comments. It is like a void. Because there are so many more species and varieties, and you generally need to do microscopy to have a chance of identifying species, there are very few people with the knowledge and expertise to be able to identify (or even have the confidence to make a guess at the identity of) a fungus from the very limited clues in a photograph. And their time is in big demand and very short supply. I think the stalwarts of the WAB fungi forum do an excellent job, despite their tiny numbers. Personally, I don't have time to do anything more than dip in and out occasionally.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob.phillips

Or is the photo so bad that it's unrecognisable.

Or is it that the photo doesn't show the important characters needed for identification, which vary from genus to genus and species to species. Again, it takes someone's time to explain why a photo doesn't capture the key characteristics and what to do better next time. Even referring people to the helpful thread on how to help themselves takes time. Sadly, specialists in fungi will always be in short supply compared with bird groups. All you need to do is to look at the membership numbers for the respective national organisations to get a feel for the difference. The RSPB claims over a million members. The Facebook page for the British Mycological Society claims 1200 members, and only a small proportion of those will be field mycologists with the ability to identify the groups of fungi posted on WAB. Enough said.

Ken

fairplay · #8 (**permalink**) 18-10-2010, 08:12 AM

And of that small proportion of field mycologists, most would be extremely busy at this time of year searching for and trying to identify their own finds, do write ups, etc.

Neil.

Cotham Marble · #9 (**permalink**) 18-10-2010, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob.phillips

Chris,

At least a response - which is what the original poster wanted.

Even if the response was - no idea what it is , but I will find out!!

It is like a bit of a void. - and sometimes appears a bit clicky.

My own post on 'what is under my bird feeder' has similarly had no response. So is it such a rare thing that no-one knows what it is. Or is it so commom that it's not worth a response. Or is the photo so bad that it's unrecognisable. Or is it that no one cares??????

I appreciate that there are much more species and varieties of fungi than birds, but this just means that there are even more people out there who have less knowledge on this subject.

Us 'learners' need all the help we can get.

Sorry if I sounded a bit flipant, but we all would like help.

Best regards, Bob P.

Bob, I do think you are being a bit 'dense' over this. Firstly WAB forums are a volunteer activity - no one is under any obligation to reply to enquiries. And Secondly, there's a very obvious reason why any committed mycologist may well not be reading Internet forums in the middle of October - for which I'll refer you to Fairplay's measured response:

Quote:

...... most would be extremely busy at this time of year searching for and trying to identify their own finds .......

CM

Arthur Onlum · #10 (**permalink**) 18-10-2010, 03:03 PM

This is turning out to be an interesting read!

SheffieldLass, thanks very much for being the only person to offer a suggestion!

I've done some looking around and it definitely does look like Lepiota aspera, I'll wait around and see if the fungi develop any further.

In the mean time, pray continue your discussion!