27th November 2014, Ladywell Fields

Lots more mushrooms in Ladywell Fields…

I have been looking for Field Blewits for 30 years and now I’ve found them in the local park! My mushroom adventures started with a find of Field Blewits at Warwick University, and they’re so distinctive that despite my total ignorance (at the time) I was able to identify and consume them. (The lilac stipe and perfumed smell are all you need.) So I’ve always been on lookout for some more, but nothing until now, even though they’re supposed to be common. Great to eat, and so I did.

Also some more Flowery Blewits. Almost identical to the Field Blewits apart from the absence of lilac colouring. I’m not absolutely certain of my identification here – Roger Phillips says they’re uncommon and does a patch of grass on the edge of Ladywell Fields with one or two trees count as ‘open woodland’?

I occasionally see Common Inkcaps but this is the first time I’ve managed to photograph them. And the other interesting find was a Parasol Mushroom. Quite impressive, one of my favourites, and very common, but again not something I was expecting to find in the park. This is another species that stirred my interest many years ago, when I found a colony growing in a pine wood in Hampshire.


1. Flowery Blewit (Lepista irina).
Growing in grass not near any trees. Two together. Cap 10-13cm. Stem 6 x 1.5-2cm. Perfumed smell. ID is guess. Spores 6.5-8µ x 4.5-5.5µ.

2. Unidentified.
Growing in grass beside tree (maybe aspen). Two together. Cap 2-4cm. Stem 4cm. Faint mushroom smell. Small one has white rim on cap. Though this was a Blushing Waxcap but can't be as spore print would have to be white. Sporeprint What I call cinnamon brown, but possibly pink. Spores 5.5-9µ x 3.5-5.5µ.

3. Unidentified.
Growing on earth or woodchip near aspen. Several trooping. Cap 2-4cm. Faint smell. One with a flattened stem. Sporeprint very pale tan, flesh colour but with no red. Spores 5.5-7µ x 3.5-5.5µ.

4. Ivory Bonnet (Mycena flavoalba).
Growing in grass. Several scattered around. Cap 0.7-1.8cm. No smell. Sporeprint whitish - not enough to be sure. Spores 5-7.5µ x 3.5-5µ.

5. Common Inkcap (Coprinus atramentarius).
Growing in grass amonst leaf litter. Many large clusters. Cap up to 6cm across. No smell. Sporeprint very dark grey/brown. Spores 7-9.5µ x 4.5-6.5µ.

6. Unidentified.
Growing in grass amonst leaf litter. One small cluster. Cap up to 5cm across. No smell. When drying became gossamer-like rather than deliquescing. Not sure if this is a Common Inkcap or not. Growing beside some common inkcaps but brown rather than grey, and spore print is definite dark grey with no hint of brown, unlike the Common Inkcap. Sporeprint very dark grey. Spores 6.5-9µ x 5-7µ.

7. Field Blewit (Lepista saeva).
Growing in grass near sycamores. Two widely apart. Cap 7-10cm. Stem 6cm. Smell strongly perfumed. Eaten. Sporeprint Very pale tan, tending to flesh colour. Not really pale pink as the book says it should be. Spores 5-7µ x 4-5µ.

8. Unidentified.
Growing in grass near sycamores. One large beside one tiny. Cap 9cm. Stem 6 x 3.3cm. Smell perfumed. Another blewit-like mushroom, but a bit different to the others. Sporeprint White. Spores 4.5-6.5µ x 3-4.5µ.

9. Parasol (Macrolepiota procera).
Growing amongst leaf litter near to trees. One. Cap 15cm.

10. Macrolepiota rhacodes.
Growing in grass beside path. Group of three. Cap 8-11cm. Stem 10-16cm. Smell pleasant and mushroomy. My spores are too small, but I can't see how this can be any other species. ID is almost sure. Sporeprint white. Spores 7-9.5µ x 5-6.5µ.