Clitopilus prunulus - The Miller

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

With its smooth matt cap surface and mealy smell it ought to be difficult to confuse this common mushroom of forest tracksides and woodland-edges with any of the white or grey-capped poisonous species, but it does happen. The deeply decurrent gills are a helpful diagnostic feature, clearly differentiating The Miller from most poisonous white-capped fungi.

Although edible, The Miller is not highly rated and for safety reasons is therefore best avoided.

Identification Guide

	Cap White or pale grey with cream or pink tints; matt like fine suede or chamois leather; 5 to 12cm across; irregularly convex and developing a central depression; margin undulating and sometimes lobed; retaining an incurved margin; flesh firm and white.
	Gills White at first, becoming pink; deeply decurrent; many of the gills forking.
Stem	White or grey often with a cream or pink tinge; 2 to 4cm wide and solid; more or less cylindrical, the stem is 1.5 to 4cm tall (relatively short for such a large mushroom) and often the attachment is slightly eccentric. There is no stem ring.
Spore print	Pink.
Odour/taste	Mealy odour and taste.
Habitat	In grassy clearings in deciduous woods; beneath hedges on roadside verges; occasionally under broadleaf trees in parkland.
Season	June to late November.
Occurrence	Common and widespread.
Similar species	This mushroom could be confused with St George's Mushroom, Calocybe gambosa, which usually fruits from Springtime until early summer. Many other white-capped fungi occur in similar habitats - Clitocybe nebularis, is one such example - but gill colour and odour help differentiate them from The Miller.