''Agrocybe praecox'', commonly known as the spring agrocybe, early agrocybe, or spring fieldcap, is a species of fungus. According to modern analysis, it is one of a cluster of closely similar species, known as the ''A. praecox'' complex. It appears early in the year in woods, gardens, and fields in Eurasia, North Africa, and North America. It is of debatable culinary interest.

Taxonomy

The mushroom was first described by

Christiaan Hendrik Persoon Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (31 December 1761 – 16 November 1836) was a Cape Colony mycologist who is recognized as one of the founders of mycology, mycological Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. Early life Persoon was born in Cape Colony at ...

in 1800 as ''Agaricus praecox''. In 1889,

Victor Fayod Victor Fayod (23 November 1860 – 28 April 1900) was a Swiss mycology, mycologist who created an influential novel classification of the agaric Fungus, fungi and described a number of new genera and species. Biographical overview Fayod was b ...

devised the new genus ''Agrocybe'' and made ''A. praecox'' the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. A 1990 study by Timothy Flynn and O. K. Miller finds that ''A. praecox'' is one of four species which are indistinguishable using superficial characteristics but which can be separated through their habitat and location. If this proposal is accepted, the cluster consists of ''A. molesta'' and three other species which do not yet have proper names, but which are referred to as "Flynn & Miller Species I–III". The three provisional species correspond to the older names ''A. acericola'', ''A. elatella'', ''A. praecox'', and ''A. sphaleromorpha'' combined; and their synonyms. According to the traditional system, various detailed morphological characteristics can be used to choose between the species, but such is variation amongst individuals that it is difficult to achieve a consistent identification in this way. The Latin

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

''praecox'' ('early') is related to the word "precocious" and refers to the fact that this species often appears early in the year.

Description

''Agrocybe praecox'' belongs to a group of species which are difficult to distinguish consistently. The

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

is up to wide, bun-shaped and brownish then convex and lightening to tannish (beige when dry and yellowish-brown when moist), and smooth.

Veil A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the human head, head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has be ...

remnants are often visible around the rim. The

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

are initially pale grayish, later brown. The

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

is pale, long and up to about 2 cm thick, with a fragile ring. They often have white

mycelial cords Mycelial cords are linear aggregations of parallel-oriented hyphae. The mature cords are composed of wide, empty vessel hyphae surrounded by narrower sheathing hyphae. Cords may look similar to plant roots, and also frequently have similar functi ...

at the base. The odor and taste are floury. The taste may be bitter. The

spores In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plant ...

are 8–10 x 5–7

μm The micrometre (Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a unit of length in the International System ...

, elliptical, and brown

en masse Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern Eng ...

Similar species

The following species are closely related to ''A. praecox'', according to ''

Index Fungorum ''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names (scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. As of 2015, the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and th ...

'' and other sources. Another similar species is '' A. smithii''.

Habitat and distribution

It can grow alone or gregarious in grass, compost, or on wood debris in woods and gardens. Like other ''Agrocybes'', it is a saprophyte. It has a widespread distribution in North America (spring to summer), Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Also it has been reported from Mongolia, Siberia, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Argentina and Colombia.

Uses

The species is not flavorful but is sometimes considered

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from " eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

, but because it belongs to a group, it may overlap with some inedible taxa. According to one French source, due to its bitterness and soft consistency, it is best left aside. One site says that it is edible but needs to be well cooked. Roger Phillips lists it as inedible.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1471958 Strophariaceae Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Fungi of Africa Fungi described in 1800 Taxa named by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon Fungus species