Agaricus silvaticus - Blushing Wood Mushroom

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Agaricus silvaticus is sometimes referred to as the Red Staining Mushroom, because the cap and stipe turn bright red if they are scratched or broken. It is an edible species, although far from common and hence distrusted by many fungi foragers.

Several of the Agaricus mushrooms that occur in woodland habitats have flesh that turns slightly red when cut or bruised, but none changes colour as rapidly and easily as the aptly-named Blushing Wood Mushroom.

Identification guide

Cap	Agaricus silvaticus has a cap diameter of 7 to 15cm. Domed at first, the scaly cap expands until it is almost flat. Beneath the surface, which is light russet-brown and covered with reddish-brown scales that are more dense towards the middle of the cap, the flesh is white. Upon cutting the thin, firm cap flesh it turns red and eventually brown.
Gills	Initially pink, the free, crowded gills turn redder and then dark brown as the spores mature.
Stem	The stem, which is 1 to 1.2cm in diameter, is more or less parallel sided above a slightly bulbous base. When cut, the solid stem flesh turns red and eventually brown. Above the large, floppy single ring the stem is smooth, while below the ring it is finely scaly.
Spore print	Chocolate brown.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	Often in groups in mixed woodland and under trees in parks.
Season	August to November.
Occurrence	Infrequent; rare in many areas.
Similar species	Agaricus haemorrhoidarius is very similar, with grey-brown scales and a stouter stem; it occurs under broad-leaved trees, notably oak and beech.