Monthly Archives: May 2014

27th May 2014, Blarney Castle, Ireland

Blarney Castle grounds are great for mushrooms, so in late spring I was hoping to winkle out a Morel. Unfortunately no, but I did come across one interesting find. I can’t decide what it is. Smells exactly like a Blewit, so that means it might be a Lepista sordida. The smell, the season (officially sordida is summer to late autumn, but late spring is close), and habitat say yes, but the spores are a bit too large. Not sure whether the putty colours that I observed equate to the expected greyish lilac. Other possible ids are in the Tricholoma family but I can’t find a good fit there.


1. Lepista sordida.
Growing amongst bark chippings on earth under larch tree. Several scattered around. Cap 3-6cm. Scented, exactly like a Blewit. Cap white with a slight yellowish hint. Gills pale grey/putty. Several features cast doubt that it's Lepista sordida, but the smell almost convinces me. ID is guess. Sporeprint putty coloured. Spores 5.5-6.5µ x 4.5-6µ.

12th May 2014, Ladywell Fields

I’ve been seeing a lot of Pavement Mushrooms in Ladywell Fields for two or three weeks now. A bit out-of-season again. It’s hard to be absolutely sure of the exact species of some random, medium sized Agricus, but these have a very characteristic way of pushing up the earth and then staying low to the ground, and the small spore size rules out some other possibilities. The Glistening Inkcaps were a surprise as well – three large clumps of them.


1. Pavement Mushroom (Agaricus bitorquis).
Growing in grass. Groups of two - five. Cap 4-7cm. But one big one 12cm, If it's the same species. Mushroomy smell but with slight ammoniacal overtone. Nice mushroomy taste. Pushing up through the earth and generally staying close to ground. Quite tasty. Eaten. ID is very likely. Spores 5.5-7µ x 4.5-6µ.

2. Glistening Inkcap (Coprinus micaceus).
Growing from earth right next to ash tree. Three big clumps around 18cm across. 2-5cm. No smell. Spores 7.5-9.5µ x 5.5-7µ.

4th May 2014, My Garden in Catford

Another spring surprise: some small Fibrecap (Inocybe) mushrooms growing amongst the pea plants in the garden. Inocybes are hard to identify. These had spores of size 5.5-7.5µ x 4.5-6.5µ, which seems too small for most Inocybes, so not sure exactly what they are.


1. Type of Fibrecap.
Growing on bare earth under pea plants. 2-3cm. Mushroomy smell. Spores 5.5-7.5µ x 4.5-6.5µ.