Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Agaricaceae
Genus: Leucoagaricus
Species: L. leucothites
Binomial name: Leucoagaricus leucothites
Synonyms: :Agaricus leucothites, Lepiota holosericea, Leucocoprinus holosericeus, Lepiota naucina, Leptiota leucothites, Leucoagaricus naucinus.
Common name: Smooth parasol, White agaricus mushroom
Leucoagaricus leucothites is a white, parasol, saprobic mushroom with a global distribution, occurring solitary, scattered, to gregarious in grassy areas in urban areas, on lawns, roadsides and cultivated areas. It looks more like a normal commercial mushroom but is almost pure white and more slender and with a longer stalk.
It has a 3-9 cm cap that is initially convex, expanding to become almost flat; often smooth and silky but occasionally with tiny flakes or scales. It is initially white but gradually becoming flushed pale cream-ochre or flesh-coloured.
The cylindrical, white stem is >11 cm long; 1-1.8 cm thick and usually has a bulbous base. The upper stem has a persistent white collar ring that might fall away. The stem is smooth above the ring and is longitudinally fibrillose below it.
The white gills (pinkish to pinkish-tan in maturity) are close and don’t reach the stem (free). Some of the gills are shorter than the majority. The spores are white. This mushroom has no distinctive smell.
A Leucoagaricus leucothites photographed late March, New Plymouth. Note two craneflies hanging underneath.
A young mushroom.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
