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| The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland |
E.g., ‘True Mushrooms’ and ‘Parasol Mushrooms’.
Including Lepiotaceae, Podaxaceae. For the present, excluding taxa long referred to Coprinaceae, q.v.
Morphology. The fruit-bodies producing basidia and basidiospores; ephemeral; simple; nearly always solitary; differentiated into a stipe and pileus with the hymenium underneath the latter; small to very large; (1–)3–26 cm across. The mature pileus convex to parasol-shaped, or more or less flat or somewhat depressed (only occasionally). The fruit-bodies brightly pigmented (rarely), or not brightly pigmented. The top of the pileus conspicuously patterned with scales (notably in Lepiota), or not patterned with scales; white or whitish, or cream or yellowish, or buff, or buff and light brown, or buff and dark brown, or straw-coloured, or honey-coloured, or light brown, or dark brown, or light brown and dark brown, or yellow (or yellowish), or green (rarely - Lepiota grangei). The fruit-bodies reacting rapidly with a marked colour change when cut or bruised, or showing no conspicuous colour reaction to cutting or bruising; damaged flesh when colouring, turning brownish (Agaricus subperonatus), or turning red (Agaricus langei), or yellowing (Agaricus placomyces, A. xanthoderma); smelling of aniseed (in Agaricus arvensis), or with a faintly sweetish or pleasant aroma (e.g., Agaricus langei), or with no particular odour other than an ordinary fungoid one. The stipe bearing a ring but no volva (though the ring is sometimes rudimentary in Lepiota). The hymenium borne on gills; not thickening. The hymenophore free. The hymenophoral trama not bilateral. The basidia ‘unmodified’. The basidiospores ballistosporic; hyaline, or white, or pink, or olive, or brown, or fuscous, or brown-black, or blue-black (variable in colour, but never rusty- or cinnamon-brown, by contrast with Bolbitiaceae); smooth; with a germ pore (often), or without a germ pore; amyloid, or inamyloid.
The hyphae with clamp connections, or without clamp connections. The hyphal walls lamellate, with a thin, electron-dense outer layer and a relatively thick, electron-transparent inner layer. The hyphae monomitic. The generative hyphae inflated. Spaerocysts not occurring among the context hyphae.
Ecology. Saprophytic (usually not mycorrhizal?). The fruit-bodies borne on the ground. Found in grassy places, in coniferous woodland, in broad-leaved woodland, in mixed woodland, and in places modified by human activities.
Representation in Britain and Ireland. Agaricus, Allopsalliota, Chamaemyces, Chlorophyllum, Cystolepiota, Lepiota, Leucoagaricus, Leucocoprinus, Macrolepiota, Melanophyllum, Micropsalliota, Psalliota, Schulzeria.
World representation. 918 species; genera 51. Cosmopolitan.
Classification. Basidiomycota; Basidiomycetes; Agaricomycetidae; Agaricales.
Comments. Variously poisonous (or suspect), or edible (notably some Lepiota species, as well as various Mushrooms of the genus Agaricus - but beware of the Yellow Stainers, A. xanthodermus and A. placomyces).
Illustrations. • Agaricus bisporus, A. bitorquis, A.campestris, A. comtulis, A. subperonatus (LH). AGARICACEAE. 1, Agaricus campestris (Field Mushroom); 2, Agaricus bisporus; 3, Agaricus bisporus forma albidus (Cultivated Mushroom); 4, Agaricus comtulus; 5, Agaricus bitorquis; 6, Agaricus subperonatus. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Agaricus arvensis, A. semotus, A. silvicola, A. urinascens (LH). AGARICACEAE. 1, Agaricus silvicola (Wood Mushroom); 2, Agaricus arvensis (Horse Mushroom); 3, Agaricus semotus; 4, Agaricus urinascens. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Lepiota aspera, boudieri, castanea, clypeolaria, cortinarius, cristata, fuscovinacea, grangei (LH). AGARICACEAE. 1, Lepiota clypeolaria; 2, Lepiota cortinarius; 3, Lepiota aspera; 4, Lepiota castanea; 5, Lepiota boudieri; 6, Lepiota fuscovinacea; 7, Lepiota cristata; 8, Lepiota grangei. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Cystolepiota, Leucoagaricus, Melanophyllum (LH). AGARICACECAE. 1, Cystolepiota sistrataa; 2, Cystolepiota bucknallii. 3, Melanophyllum eyrei; 4, Melanophyllum haematospermum. 5, Leucoagaricus leucothites. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Chlorophyllum rhacodes, Macrolepiota excoriata, Macrolepiota procera (LH). AGARICACEAE. 1, Chlorophyllum rhacodes (with section of pileus); 2, Macrolepiota excoriata; 3, Macrolepiota procera. J.E. Lange, in Lange & Hora (1965). • Agaricus arvensis, A. campestris, and Leucocoprinus cretaceus (Berkeley). AGARICACEAE. 2 and 3, forms of Agaricus campestris L. (Field Mushroom); 4, Agaricus arvensis Schaeff. (Horse Mushroom); 5, Leucocoprinus cretaceus (Bull.) Locq. CORTINARIACEAE. 1, Crepidotus variabilis (Pers.) P. Kumm. STROPHARIACEAE. 6, Stropharia squamosa (Pers.) Quél. From Berkeley (1860). • Lepiota cristata and L. rachodes (Berkeley). AGARICEAE. 6, Lepiota rhacodes (Vittad.) Quél.; 7, Lepiota cristata (Bolton) P. Kumm. PLUTEACEAE. 1, Amanita phalloides (Vaill. ex Fr.) Link (Death Cap); 2, Amanita strobiliformis (Paulet ex Vittad.) Bertillon; 3, Amanita excelsa (Fr.) P. Kumm.; 4, Amanita vaginata (Bull.) Fr.; 5, Amanita ceciliae (Berke. & Broome) Bas. From Berkeley (1860).
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2008 onwards. The families of mushrooms and toadstools represented in Britain and Ireland. Version: 5th August 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
