Shaggy parasol is the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

for three closely related species of

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. ''Toadstool'' generally refers to a poisonous mushroom. The standard for the n ...

: ''Chlorophyllum rhacodes'', ''C. olivieri'' and ''C. brunneum'', found in North America, Europe and

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

. ''C. brunneum'' is also found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Taxonomy

''Chlorophyllum rhacodes'', ''C. olivieri'' and ''C. brunneum'' were formerly known as ''Macrolepiota rhacodes'' or ''Lepiota rhacodes'', but the name was changed on the basis of

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

evidence demonstrating a closer relationship to ''

Chlorophyllum molybdites ''Chlorophyllum molybdites'', commonly known as the green-spored parasol, false parasol, green-spored lepiota and vomiter, is a common species of mushroom found in temperate and subtropical meadows and lawns. The species is poisonous and produ ...

'' than to ''

Macrolepiota procera ''Macrolepiota procera'', the parasol mushroom, is a basidiomycete fungus with a large, prominent fruiting body resembling a parasol. It is a fairly common species on well-drained soils. It is found solitary or in groups and fairy rings in p ...

''. The subspecies ''Macrolepiota rhacodes'' var. ''brunneum'' was also elevated to species status as ''Chlorophyllum brunneum''. ''Chlorophyllum olivieri'' is a closely related species that is also eaten as the "Shaggy Parasol". Many reference works spell the epithet "''rachodes''" rather than "''rhacodes''". The spelling "rachodes" was used by Vittadini when he first published the species in 1835, but was erroneous as the Greek word ''rhakos'' 'piece of cloth' should be transcribed as ''rhacos''.

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 ...

keeps to the original author's spelling, "''rachodes''".

Description

The shaggy parasol is a large and conspicuous

agaric An agaric () is a type of fungal fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus (cap) that is clearly differentiated from the stipe (stalk), with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. It is a type of mushroom (or toadstool) ...

, with thick brown

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

and protuberances on its fleshy white

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 ...

. 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 ...

and

spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing warm orange ("tussock") color spore print. ...

are both white in colour. Its stipe is slender, but bulbous at the base, is coloured uniformly and bears no patterns. It is fleshy, and a reddish, or

maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...

discoloration occurs and a pungent odour is evolved when it is cut. The

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

-shaped caps become wider and flatter as they mature. In all three species, the cap reaches about in width and the stipe grows to tall with a diameter up to 2 to 3 cm.

Similar species

The shaggy parasol is similar in appearance to the similarly edible

parasol mushroom ''Macrolepiota procera'', the parasol mushroom, is a basidiomycete fungus with a large, prominent fruiting body resembling a parasol. It is a fairly common species on well-drained soils. It is found solitary or in groups and fairy rings i ...

, ''Macrolepiota procera''. The latter grows considerably larger however, and is more likely to be found in the open than ''C. rhacodes'', which prefers more

shade Shade, Shades or Shading may refer to: * Shade (color), a mixture of a color with black (often generalized as any variety of a color) * Shade (shadow), the blocking of sunlight * Shades or sunglasses * Shading, a process used in art and graphic ...

and dislikes open

pastures Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

and

fields Fields may refer to: Music *Fields (band), an indie rock band formed in 2006 * Fields (progressive rock band), a progressive rock band formed in 1971 * ''Fields'' (album), an LP by Swedish-based indie rock band Junip (2010) * "Fields", a song by ...

. Another distinguishing feature is that ''C. rhacodes'' lacks the brown bands that are on the stem of ''M. procera''.

Edibility

The shaggy parasol is popularly praised as an

edible mushroom Edible mushrooms are the fleshy fruit bodies of numerous species of macrofungi (fungi that bear fruiting structures large enough to be seen with the naked eye). Edibility may be defined by criteria including the absence of poisonous effect ...

. However, it contains

toxins A toxin is a naturally occurring poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. They occur especially as proteins, often conjugated. The term was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919), derived ...

which can cause

gastric upset Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier t ...

s and some individuals show a strong allergic response even after cooking. While ''Chlorophyllum rhacodes'' and ''C. olivieri'' are considered edible everywhere, ''C. brunneum'' is considered toxic in some European countries as it causes severe gastric upset, although no specific toxin has been identified. Furthermore, young shaggy parasols look identical to the poisonous ''

'' (the mushroom that causes the most poisonings in North America yearly).Chlorophyllum molybdites
(MushroomExpert.com) Checking for a white spore print is essential as ''C. molybdites'' print is green (older specimens having slightly green gills). As a result, this mushroom is not recommended for inexperienced hunters.

Taxonomy

Description

Similar species

Edibility

References

Further reading