Leucocoprinus birnbaumii

(Also known as L. luteus or Lepiota lutea)

Flower Pot Parasol

Order Agaricales, family Agaricaceae 

CAP BRIGHT YELLOW WITH STRIATIONS AT EDGE

Cap:  2-5 cm wide; bell-shaped, then flattening with knob; bright yellow, then fading; dry, powdery to scaly; thin flesh; striated at edge of cap when mature, often with dark center

GILLS YELLOWISH

Gills:  free from stalk; crowded; yellow

L luteusSTALK THIN WITH RING

Stalk:  5-7 cm long, 1-5 mm thick  Ring:  cottony , fragile, often disappears

SPORE PRINT WHITE

Spores 8-13 x 5.5-8 µm, smooth, elliptical, dextrinoid, thick-walled, small apical pore

INDOORS, IN FLOWER POTS, GREENHOUSES

PROBABLY POISONOUS (Toxicology studies incomplete)

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE TO KNOW....

If you're lucky, the flower pot parasol will emerge from the soil of a potted plant that you buy from a florist.  You'll undoubtedly prefer the mushroom to your potted plant, and you'll be tempted to weed out your plant and encourage bigger and better fruitings of the flower pot parasol.  We don't encourage this, as your house plant will probably outlast the mushroom and usually the mushroom and the plant look nice together.

The existence of the flower pot parasol raises this question:  Why don't florists make a point to sell mushrooms in pots.  Ask them about it and maybe they will one day.  For now, we have to buy mushroom-growing kits by mail order.


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