There are times when the mushroom gods truly overwhelm us with their generosity! Such was the case when we recently spent a couple of days on Mt. Hood.
What a lovely site - mushrooms surrounded by fall colors.
The real jewels of our visit to Mt. Hood were the mushrooms that greeted us as we exited the cabin on our final morning. Seemingly overnight this impressive assemblage of six had popped up for our pleasure!
Can you identify this particular Agaricus from the photograph above, keeping in mind that the spores were a deep milk chocolate brown, the cap was covered with concentrically arranged, brown-colored scales on a creamy background, and the veil was torn and left behind as a pendulous ring adorning the stem? Or, do you need more information?
Michael Kuo of Mushroom Expert.com has written authoritatively about Agaricus identification:
Identification of Agaricus species ranges from fairly easy to very difficult. Characters include bruising reactions of the cap, stem, and flesh--as well as odors and, occasionally, microscopic features. Rub the edge of an Agaricus cap repeatedly in order to assess whether it bruises yellow or not--and be sure to rub the base of the stem, as well. In some species the flesh inside the stem base turns yellow when sliced. Agaricus odors are particularly frustrating for me, since I am apparently "smell blind" when it comes to one of the "distinctive" Agaricus odors: the "phenol" or "library paste" odor of some species. Other species smell like almonds (my sniffer registers this odor just fine), or have non-distinctive odors. Crush the flesh in the base of the stem to assess Agaricus odors.
And we agree that Agaricus can be challenging to pin point even with thoughtful observation and examination.
Does this view
give you a clue to the mushroom's name?