Trompette de la mort Craterellus cornucopioides

Scientific Name: Craterellus cornucopioides (Cantherellaceae). 'Cornucopioides' refers to the cornucopia (Horn of Plenty) of Greek myth.

English Name: Horn of Plenty; Trumpet of Death (Chanterelle family).

French Name: Trompette de la mort (='trumpet of death'); Craterelle; Trompette des morts (='trumpet of the dead'); la Craterelle en forme de corne (='horn shaped chanterelle').

5 Key Characters:

• very dark coloured, grey brown to black.
• funnel shaped with a somewhat wrinkled rolled edge.
• leathery. 
• very hard to see in the leaf litter.
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Lookalikes: Chanterelle Cantharellus cibarius, which is yellow all over. Trumpet Chanterelle Cantharellus tubaeformis, which has a yellow stem.

Habitat: In the leaf litter of deciduous woodland, usually under Hornbeam Carpinus betulus, sometimes Beech Fagus sylvaticus or Oak Quercus spp.


Fruiting Period: June-July-August-September-October-November-December.


Status: Locally abundant.


Edible or Toxic? One of the most prized edible mushrooms in the forest.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

The uncommon C. c. var. flavicans, found in the Forest of Preuilly, October 2015.

Choke Epichloe typhina

Scientific Name: Epichloe typhina (Ascomycota Clavicipitaceae).

English Name: Choke (a spore shooting fungus, Ergot family).

French Name:

5 Key Characters:

• on grass stems, like a sort of sheath.
• initially white, yellow when mature.
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Lookalikes:

Habitat: Grass.


Fruiting Period: Summer, especially if cool and wet. Spores spread by flies Botanophila spp and slugs.

Status: Widespread and common. Closely related to Ergot Claviceps purpurea and produces the same set of toxic alkaloids (which in Ergot causes the disease known as Saint Anthony's Fire, and from which LSD can be derived) but in very small quantities.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Yellow Stainer Agaricus xanthodermus

Scientific Name: Agaricus xanthodermus (Agaricaceae). 'Xanthodermus' means 'yellow skinned'.

English Name: Yellow Stainer; Yellow-staining mushroom (True mushroom family).

French Name: Agaric jaunissant (='yellowing mushroom').

5 Key Characters:

• white with pink to brown gills.
• rapidly turns bright yellow when damaged .
• globular when young, flattening out to a shallowly convex cap, 5 - 15 cm across.
• stem white, 1 - 2 cm in diameter, with obvious ring of persistent veil, bulbous at the base and rapidly yellowing if cut, especially at the base.
• smells of ink, phenol or iodine, especially after cutting and cooking.

Lookalikes: Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris, which does not stain yellow. Horse Mushroom Agaricus arvensis, which only slowly and slightly stains yellow, and smells of aniseed.

Habitat: Hedgerows, parks, gardens, especially along boundaries or in disturbed patches.

Fruiting Period: June-July-August-September-October.

Status: Common.

Edible or Toxic? Causes serious digestive problems (nausea, cramps, sweating, vomiting, diarrhoea) and is a common cause of poisoning because it looks so much like Field Mushroom.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Bruising Webcap Cortinarius purpurascens

Scientific Name: Cortinarius purpurascens (Cortinariaceae). 'Cortinarius' means 'curtain', a reference to the veil that covers the gills when the mushroom is young. 'Purpurascens' means 'turning purple', which the mushroom does if damaged.

English Name: Bruising Webcap (Webcap family).

French Name: Cortinaire purpurescent (='purpling curtain').

5 Key Characters:

• turns purple if damaged.
• cap brownish streaked with purple, going browner with age.
• cap convex, flattening out with age.
• gills brownish violet, going darker reddish brown with age.
• stem violet and swollen at the base.

Lookalikes: Other purple Cortinarius spp, especially C. violaceus, which is deep purple. Wood Blewit Lepista nuda, which has a cap edge that rolls under and is common.

Habitat: Broadleaf and mixed forests, especially under Oaks Quercus spp and Beech Fagus sylvaticus.

Fruiting Period: August-September-October-November.

Status: Uncommon.

Edible or Toxic? Possibly toxic (other similar species contain a toxin which will destroy your liver or kidneys if you eat them).

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Wood Blewit on the left, Bruising Webcap on the right.

Upright Coral fungus Ramaria stricta

Scientific Name: Ramaria stricta (Gomphaceae). 'Ramaria' means 'having branches'; 'stricta' means 'upright'.


English Name: Upright Coral fungus (Coral fungus family).


French Name: La Clavaire droite (='straight club'); Clavaire dressée (='upright club'); Ramaire droite (='straight branches').

5 Key Characters:

• all branches completely upright.
• white to buff coloured.
• smooth, rubbery and coral like in appearance, sometimes flattened.
• branches have multiple upward pointing forks with pointy tips.
• turns dark red when damaged.

Lookalikes: Ramaria formosa, which is pink or coral coloured and much rarer.


Habitat: Forests, often under Beech Fagus sylvaticus or conifers.


Fruiting Period: July-August-September-October-November.


Status: Quite common.


Edible or Toxic? Not edible (other Ramaria spp are toxic).


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Wood Blewit Lepista nuda

Scientific Name: Lepista nuda (Tricholomataceae). Syn Clitocybe nuda. 'Lepista' means 'goblet'; 'nuda' means 'naked'.


English Name: Wood Blewit (Knights and Funnels family).


French Name: Pied bleu (='blue foot').


5 Key Characters:

• bluish violet, going tan with age on the cap (gills and stem take much longer to change).
• caps turn concave with age.
• often grows in fairy rings.
• edge rolled under until quite mature.
• solid robust looking mushroom, not at all fragile.

Lookalikes: The violet coloured Cortinarius spp. Field Blewit Lepista saeva, which is not so common and does not have a violet cap.


Habitat: Leaf litter in deciduous and mixed forest, hedgerows, occasionally gardens.


Fruiting Period: August-September-October-November-December.


Status: Common and widespread.


Edible or Toxic? Edible and very popular in France, where they can be purchased from specialist producers. They must be cooked, and do not agree with everyone. Can be used to make a green dye if boiled in an iron pot.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Wood Blewit on the left and Bruising Webcap Cortinarius purpurascens on the right.

Stocking Webcap Cortinarius torvus

Scientific Name: Cortinarius torvus (Cortinariaceae). 'Cortinarius' means 'curtain', a reference to the veil over the gills in young specimens. 'Torvus' means 'fierce' or 'grim'.

English Name: Stocking Webcap (Webcap family).

French Name: Cortinaire farouche (='grim curtain'); Cortinaire à pied courbe (='curve footed curtain'); Cortinaire à chaussette (='socked curtain').

5 Key Characters:

• has an off-white 'stocking' sheath up the stem.
• stem fibrous with lower half swollen, 4  - 9 cm high.
• cap streaky pinkish brown, 4 - 10 cm across.
• gills are violet, aging to red brown.
• strong unpleasant smell, like camphor.

Lookalikes: Variable Webcap C. anomalus, which doesn't have a stocking. Purple Stocking Webcap C. mucifluoides, which has a purple stocking rather than whitish, and is very slimy.

Habitat: Broadleaf or mixed woodland, especially near Beech Fagus sylvaticus, Hazel Corylus avellana, Oaks Quercus spp, Lindens Tilia spp.

Fruiting Period: August-September-October-November.

Status: Fairly common and widespread.

Edible or Toxic? Assumed to be toxic (other webcaps are).

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Pear Fibrecap Inocybe pyriodora

Scientific Name: Inocybe pyriodora (Inocybaceae). 'Inocybe' means 'fibrous head'.


English Name: Pear Fibrecap.


French Name: Inocbye à odeur de poire (='pear scented fibrecap').

5 Key Characters:

• reddish brown.
• bell shaped cap, 3 - 7 cm across, often splitting around the edge.
• distinctive sharp unpleasant over-ripe pear smell, very aldehydey, like poor quality pear eau de vie. 
• white stem, 4 - 8 cm high.
• white flesh aging to pinkish.
  

Lookalikes: Other Inocybe spp.


Habitat: Woodlands, in the soil.


Fruiting Period: September-October-November.


Status: Uncommon.


Edible or Toxic? Assumed to be toxic (others in the genus are).


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Parasol Mushroom Macrolepiota procera

Scientific Name: Macrolepiota procera (Agaricaceae). 'Procera' means 'tall'.

English Name: Parasol Mushroom (True mushroom family).

French Name: La Lépiote élevée (='elevated lepiota'); Coulemelle (='little column').

5 Key Characters:

• large, appearing singly or in widely spaced groups.
• globular brown caps, which as they expand become ivory with brown scales.
• raised brown central 'button' on a flat cap when mature, 10 - 25 cm across.
• flesh and gills white, not changing colour when cut.
• stem up to 30 cm high, cream with brown 'snakeskin' like pattern.

Lookalikes: Shaggy Parasol Chlorophyllum rhacodes, which is toxic, has flesh that turns red when cut and does not have the 'snakeskin' patterned stem.

Habitat: Roadsides, unimproved pasture, woodland clearings and edges.

Fruiting Period: June-July-August-September-October-November.

Status: Common.

Edible or Toxic: One of the most prized edible species.  Pick partially expanded specimens with caps at least 10 cm across (this will help you avoid the toxic lookalikes).

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Panthercap mushroom Amanita pantherina

Scientific Name: Amanita pantherina (Amanitaceae). Pantherina is a reference to a supposed resemblance to the pelt of a panther.

English Name: Panthercap mushroom (Amanita family).

French Name: Amanite panthère (='panther amanita').

5 Key Characters:

• brown cap 5 - 12 cm across, with white spots. 
• cap colour very variable and can be pale or very dark.
• found in groups in mixed forest.
• white gills.
• pure white stem 6 - 12 cm tall.

Lookalikes: Grey-spotted Amanita A. excelsa, which is very like, but has grey spots on the cap, not white and generally a thicker stem. Blusher A. rubescens, which always 'blushes' when damaged.

Habitat: Mixed deciduous forest, especially with Oak Quercus spp and Beech Fagus sylvatica.


Fruiting Period: August-September-October-November-December-January-February.


Status: Quite common.


Edible or Toxic? Deadly poisonous, and contains phsyco-active toxins similar to Fly Agaric A. muscaria.  

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Blushers and Panthercaps displayed together after a fungi foray, to show how similar the two species are. The mushrooms are roughly divided into Blushers on the left, Panthercaps on the right. The point of the exercise is that Blushers are edible if correctly prepared, Panthercaps are one of the most dangerously toxic mushrooms in the forest.

Orange Peel Fungus Aleuria aurantia

Scientific Name: Aleuria aurantia (Ascomycetes). 'Aurantia' means 'golden'.

English Name: Orange Peel Fungus (Cup and flask fungus family).

French Name: La Pézize orangée (='oranged foot').

5 Key Characters:

• cup shaped, with age becoming distorted and even splitting.
• really looks like orange peel.
• bright orange on top, covered in pale down underneath.
• can be 10 cm across but usually half that size or smaller.
• always on soil.

Lookalikes: Scarlet Elf Cup Sarcosypha austriaca, which grows on hazel, willow or sycamore twigs in damp woodland.

Habitat: Disturbed soil by woodland tracks.

Fruiting Period: August-September-October-November.

Status: Quite common and widespread.

Edible or toxic: Edible but not very tasty. Can be used to add colour to a dish.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Rosy Bonnet Mycena rosea

Scientific Name: Mycena rosea (Mycenaceae). 'Rosea' means 'pink'.

English Name: Rosy Bonnet (Bonnet family).

French Name: Mycène rose (='pink bonnet mushroom').

5 Key Characters:

• large for a bonnet mushroom.
• often grows in a line, close to the trunk of a tree.
• a very pretty little pearly pink mushroom.
• cap 2 - 6 cm in diameter, initially bell-shaped, becoming flat with age.
• smells distinctly of radish (break a piece off for best effect).

Lookalikes: Lilac Bonnet Mycena pura, which is yellowy lilac capped rather than pink and smaller.

Habitat: Mixed woodland, roadsides with nearby deciduous trees.

Fruiting Period: August-September-October-November.

Status: Not particularly common, quite localised.

Edible or Toxic? Contains a dangerous toxin.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Morel Morchella esculenta

Scientific Name: Morchella esculenta (Morchellaceae). 'Morchella' means 'mushroom'; 'esculenta' means 'edible'.

English Name: Morel; Common Morel; Yellow Morel.

French Name: La Morille comestible (='edible morel').

5 Key Characters:

• caps 3 - 8 cm across and 5 - 12 cm tall, conical, globular or ovoid.
• flesh is waxy.
• caps have a sort of irregular honeycomb or cellular appearance.
• caps ivory, yellow ochre or light brown. 
• stems ivory.

Lookalikes: Old specimens of Common Stinkhorn Phallus impudicus, which have had their stinky green goo eaten by flies to reveal the honeycomb structure below, but this species is usually fruiting later in the year. False Morel Gyromitra esculenta, which despite its name can be fatally toxic. The cap looks more like a brain than honeycomb and is red brown. This species is associated with pine forests on sandy soil. Black Morel Morchella elata, which has a darker more conical cap with honeycomb cells more regularly lined up in columns. White Saddle Helvella crispa, which has a fluted, broader stem, and a contorted but not cellular cap.

Habitat: Deciduous woodland on chalk soil, gardens.

Fruiting Period: March-April-May-June.

Status: Uncommon.

Edible or Toxic: Highly desirable as an edible mushroom, but they must be cooked before being consumed. The raw mushroom will make you sick and give you stomach pains. Usually dried before consumption by foragers.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Fungi Forays

Regular fungi forays are organised by the Association de botanique et de mycologie de Sainte Maure de Touraine. Their aim is to survey the Tourangelle forests (Loches, Larçay, Preuilly, Chinon, etc) and to educate the public. 

Gathering mushrooms in the forest remains a popular activity in France and many people are perfectly happy to eat wild mushrooms. Since there are poisonings every year due to people misidentifying species, joining the Association is one way of ensuring you know what you are eating. Theoretically you can take your mushrooms to the pharmacy and have the pharmacist identify them. In practice these days very few pharmacists have the knowledge to accurately identify mushrooms or pronounce on their edibility or otherwise.

Joining the Association on an outing is also a way of ensuring that there is no hunting scheduled for the day in the chosen section of forest, and that you have permission to gather mushrooms. Generally mushroom gathering for personal consumption is permitted on the weekends and holidays in publicly owned forests, but it can vary (there is usually a sign telling you what is permitted). To gather mushrooms in privately owned forests you need the permission of the landowner.

A fungi foray does not just concentrate on the dozen or so well known species of edible mushrooms. At the beginning of the outing you will be instructed to pick everything you see and bring it to the table for identification at the end of the outing. This is so lookalikes can be highlighted by the experts and because the Association is recording the species on each site visited. This information feeds into wider biodiversity records and helps form a body of knowledge about the forests that can direct their management.

The Tourangelle forests are rich in fungi species. They are old established forests which are managed with a light touch. Hundreds of different fungi make their home here.

The general public is very welcome on the Association's outings and there will be a brief announcement in the local newspaper with details of the next outing in the autumn months. In French this will be listed as a sortie mycologique or a sortie champignons.

A basket of edible* mushrooms gathered on a fungi foray. *The mushrooms are mostly ceps/porcini/boletes, but the large cream specimen being pointed at is a Clouded Funnel Clitocybe nebularis, which has an aroma that puts most people off.

A fungi foray group about to head off into the Forest of Preuilly.

Fungi displayed on a table at the end of a foray, ready to be identified. An expert is explaining the difference between two very poisonous species -- the Death Cap and the Panther Cap. He pointed out that you must check each and every mushroom as it comes out of your basket if you are intending to eat them.

Three expert mycologists from the Association de Botanique et de Mycologie de Sainte Maure de Touraine identifying mushrooms laid out on the table after an outing in the Forest of Loches. The club holds two outings a year in this forest and maintains a record of species seen over many years.

Deceiver Laccaria laccata

Scientific Name: Laccaria laccata (Hydnangiaceae). Both 'laccaria' and 'laccata' mean 'lacquered'.

English Name: Deceiver (Deceivers family).

French Name: Laccaire laqué (='lacquered lacquered').

5 Key Characters:

• usually grows in groups.
• cap colour can be very variable (which is the reason for the English name) from dark tan or orange to off white.
• hollow fibrous stems.
• caps convex when young, flattening out as the mushroom ages, 2 - 7 cm across.
• stem 6 - 10 mm in diameter and 5 - 10 cm in height.

Lookalikes: Other Laccaria spp, especially when old and faded.

Habitat: Leaf litter in mixed woodland or heathland.

Fruiting Period: June-July-August-September-October-November-December.

Status: Very common.

Edible or Toxic? Edible caps, stems are too fibrous to be nice eating.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Leafy Brain Tremella foliacea

Scientific Name: Tremella foliacea (Tremellaceae). Tremella means 'trembling', a reference to the jelly like nature of fungi in this genus. Foliacea means 'wrinkled leaves'.


English Name: Leafy Brain (Jelly Fungus family).


French Name: Trémelle foliacée.

5 Key Characters:

• very crumpled and convoluted looking.
• when dry just a black crust.
• when wet translucent.
• usually red brown.
• when pale coloured it looks a lot like silicone sealant.
  

Lookalikes: Other Tremella spp, which are yellow and may parasitise other Crust fungus spp.


Habitat: Grows on dead wood that has already been attacked by Hairy Curtain Crust Stereum hirsutum. Leafy Brain is parasitic on Hairy Curtain Crust.


Fruiting Period: Summer and autumn.


Status: Quite common and very widespread.

Edible or Toxic? Not worth eating.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Common Stinkhorn Phallus impudicus

Scientific Name: Phallus impudicus (Phallaceae). 'Phallus' is a reference to the phallic appearance of stinkhorns. 'Impudicus' means 'immodest'.


English Name: Common Stinkhorn.


French Name: Satyre puant (='stinking satyr'); Phallus impudique (='immodest phallus'); Oeuf du Diable (='Devil's egg').

5 Key Characters:

• young specimens are like eggs in the ground.
• cap is covered in a smelly olive green gel which attracts flies.
• they can be very smelly, to the extent that you may smell them before seeing them.
• usually found in groups.
• the flesh is honeycombed.
  

Lookalikes: Other stinkhorns, which are much less common.


Habitat: Woodland, especially coniferous. Grows around dead tree stumps and other rotting wood.


Fruiting Period: Potentially all year, but not usually in the summer. Peaks June - October. Flies transfer the spores from the smelly gel to the next place they land.


Status: Very common and widely distributed.

Edible or Toxic? Edible when young but most people don't fancy them.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Bracket Fungi - Polyporaceae

Bracket fungi are always found growing on wood, often gaining a foothold on a living tree by entering via a wound caused by bird, insect or weather damage, but some species grow on dead timber, especially newly felled wood. Some attack the heartwood, others sapwood. As they age they become harder and harder. Many are beautifully marked in contrasting bands formed as they grow.

Hoof / True Tinder Fungus Fomes fomentarius (Fr. l'Amadouvier): One of the most common polypores here, found on most types of deciduous trees. Young specimens are velvety, but older ones very hard. The fungus becomes very thick as annual layers of spore tubes develop. It has been used by man from at least 10 000 years ago as tinder. It can also be processed into a leather like material, which could be used on wounds to dry them out, or to make accessories such as pouches. Lookalike Ganoderma lipsiense (below). Not edible. Can be seen all year.

Tinder Fungus on a now dead oak tree.

Artist's Bracket Ganoderma lipsiense (syn. G. applanatum): Very common, widespread and long lived. Creamy white on the underside and brown on top. It can be scratched to make brown line drawings, giving rise to its English name. It produces millions of spores, which coat the surrounding area like brown dust. It is attacked by the Yellow Flat-footed Fly Agathomyia wankowiczii (Platypezidae) which cause it to form galls. These galls are diagnostic for this species, as the fly does not attack lookalike species such as other Ganoderma spp. Most common on felled trees, especially poplar Populus spp, oak Quercus spp and beech Fagus sylvestris. Individual specimens can reach 50 cm across and 10 cm thick after some years. They are tough and bitter so not edible.

Artist's Bracket is a formidable parasite. It settles on weakened trees to kill them slowly or as in this case, on a fallen tree (Poplar). The drinks can is for scale.

In the photo, the surrounding herbacious plants have been coloured brown -- these are the spores, it is a characteristic feature of Artist's Bracket. The mushroom at back left sharing this poplar stump is Lentinus tigrinus (below).

Lentinus tigrinus
Dark, almost black when young, white or buff when mature, somewhat funnel shaped, with a wavy edge. 1.5 - 15 cm across and covered in brownish black scales, which become sparser with age. Gills white to yellowish and raggedy. Stem greyish yellow and often bent. Common on wet wood, found near water and especially on Willow Salix spp and Poplar Populus spp, often in groups, May to September. In France it is considered edible when young and quite tasty. Confusion is possible with the Birch Knight Tricholoma pardinum.

Growing on a poplar stump on the banks of the Charente River, August.

Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria

Scientific Name: Amanita muscaria (Amanitaceae). Muscaria='associated with flies'.

English Name: Fly Agaric (Amanita and allies family).

French Name: Amanite tue-mouche (='fly killing amanite'); Fausse oronge (='false Caesar's mushroom').

5 Key Characters:

• often grows in groups and reappears for several years in the same spot. 
• cap entirely covered in white 'warts' when young.
• red skin revealed as cap expands and the 'warts' are separated to form flecks on the surface.
• cap 10 - 20 cm in diameter, domed at first, then flattening, usually ending up slightly concave when mature.
• white flesh which turns yellow when exposed to the air; white gills which go pale yellow with age; white stem with a ring and volva at the base.

Lookalikes: Caesar's Mushroom Amanita caesarea, which is much rarer, does not have white flecks on the cap, has a yellow stalk, and is orange rather than red, with faint striations around the edge of the cap. Blusher A. rubescens, which always stains pinky red when damaged. Beechwood Sickener Russula nobilis, which is very brittle and does not have a ring or volva on the stem.

Habitat: Woodland. The mushroom forms a mycorrhizal relationship with trees, especially Silver Birch Betula pendula, Pines Pinus spp and Spruces Picea spp.

Fruiting Period: August-September-October-November.

Status: Common. This is the mushroom of fairytales and illustrated childrens' books.

Edible or Toxic? Hallucinogenic, and whilst not usually deadly, it is toxic. The quantity of psychoactive compounds varies considerably from mushroom to mushroom. The compounds can cause a range of symptoms including drowsiness, nausea, sweating, distortion of sight and sound, euphoria and dizziness if the dried mushroom is consumed. Eating the raw mushroom is known to cause severe gastric upsets. The toxins are not completely destroyed when the mushroom is cooked. Traditionally used to kill flies by being soaked in milk. Supposedly the flies were attracted to the saucer of mushroom impregnated milk which they sopped up and were poisoned.

Further Reading and References:
The Toadstool of the Fairytales, a blog post on our daily blog Days on the Claise.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Demonstrating the difference between Caesar's Mushroom (on the left) and Fly Agaric (on the right). Note the difference in the red tones of the caps, the white flecks on the Fly Agaric compared to the smooth cap of the Caesar's Mushroom and the white stem versus the yellow stem.

Caesars Mushroom Amanita caesarea

Scientific Name: Amanita caesarea (Amanitaceae).


English Name: Caesar's Mushroom (Amanita and allies family).


French Name: Oronge; Amanite des césars (='Caesars' Amanite'); Oronge vraie (='true oronge').


5 Key Characters:

• one of the largest amanitas (cap up to 18 cm across).
• deep bright orange cap, at first conical then flattening.
• cap faintly striped at the edges and when mature almost always split.
• gills orangey yellow.
• stem pale orange, with large pale orange stem ring and a white bag like volva (a type of sheath at the base).
  

Lookalikes: Tawny Grisette Amanita fulva, which is tawny orange. Orange Grisette A. crocea, which has a snakeskin patterned stem. Neither have stem rings, nor are they toxic. Fly Agaric A. muscaria, which is vermilion red, with white flecks on the cap. It is toxic.


Habitat: Under Oaks Quercus spp in mixed woodland.


Fruiting Period: August-September-October-November-December.


Status: Uncommon.


Edible or Toxic? Highly prized as an edible species, especially when very young (egg shaped). They probably need to be cooked to be safe, although they are habitually eaten raw in Italy.


Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Caesar's Mushroom on the left, Fly Agaric on the right. You can clearly see the difference in colour of the two species, and the faint stripes on the edge of the cap of the Caesar's Mushroom.