For a few years I have noticed some mushrooms coming up after I had burned piles of branches and stumps and so on. At first, I thought these were Volvariellas, but closer inspection showed that they were Pluteus petasatus. They have quite a distinctive cap, grow in clusters and have a characteristic pink spore print.
For some reason, these mushrooms tended to grow at the base of some tall weeds that also grew after the fire. I have no idea what the basis of this association is.
David Arora records this mushroom as being the best of the genus Pluteus, but after frying some up and tasting them, I concluded that they were very similar in taste to Volvariella speciosa (now called Volvopluteus gloiocephalus) and are not something that I would be drawn to eat in particular. Like Volvariella, they would probably go well with some silverbeet or spinach.
Le Loup said,
March 20, 2011 @ 9:52 pm
Good post, thank you.
Regards.
A Woodsrunner’s Diary.
Mitch Garbutt said,
July 15, 2011 @ 7:03 am
Hi Morrie
I am down at hopetoun and picked these mushrooms which have white gills but which a farmer said were edible and indicated the name was a shaggy top.
It looks similar to this mushroom but is darker and scalier on the cap.
I t smells fine, the stem ulls away from the cap and it has a distinct ring but i dont feel happy eating anything without a positive ID.your thoughts would be most appreciated.
Best wishes
Mitch
morrie2 said,
July 19, 2011 @ 10:23 am
Hi Mitch,
Sounds like it might be a Macrolepiota. Personally, I avoid all forms of Lepiota. It is easy to get the indentification wrong, and some of them contain deadly amatoxins. It is simply not worth risking your life for.
There are plenty of more easily identifiable edibles around with far lower risk.
I have spent many happy times in Hopetoun.
Cheers
Morrie