The following are fungi that I have found on my front lawn pictured below (12 November 2011). I will update this page as mushrooms appear.

Lyophyllum?

Last week, beginning 3 October, it rained for most of the week and encouraged a flush of spring mushrooms. I have seen the one below growing on my front lawn most springs since we bought the house. It is frustrating fungus as are most Tricholoma-like mushroom in that there are very few distinctive characters to guide me to an identification. At this stage all I can say is that it is small, mostly white except for the greyish cap, and has a white spore print. It is growing on the lawn but there is a linden (Tillia cordata) and some birches (Betula) nearby. As all the lawn species and trees are European in origin it is likely that the mushroom is as well. Its size and habitat suggest it is not Tricholoma so I am leaning towards Lyophyllum. It has a resemblance to Lyphyllum decastes in colour but is usually single whereas L. decastes is usually in clumps (caespitose). At this stage I cannot take it much further.

Calocybe carnea?

This group of little pink mushrooms appeared after rain in mid December (18 December 2011) and subsequently fruit twice more over the summer after rain. It stumped me totally and I consulted with a colleague, Jerry Cooper, who pointed me towards Calocybe carnea although he wasn’t certain. Jerry had made several collections of this thing in Canterbury and my specime matches his photos. Whether or not it is C. carnea, or something similar, need to be confirmed. Just to make things more confusing many of these species have been moved to Rugosomyces, in this case Rugosomyces carneus.