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The family Agaricaceae includes the genera Agaricus, and Lepiota. In this guide other 'agaric' or gilled fungi are to be found
under Amanitaceae, Coprinaceae, Cortinariales, Entolomataceae, Hygrophoraceae,
Russulaceae, Strophariaceae and Tricholomataceae. Picture galleries
for each of these groups are all readily accessible via the Identification
Guide index.
All fungi within the family Agaricaceae have caps with gills, and
stalks either from the centre of the cap or, in some instances, off
centre. Most grow on soil or leaf litter, but some are
to be found on rotting wood. Two main genera are included in this family: Agaricus and Lepiota.
Agaricus
The gills of Agaricus mushrooms are
free and crowded, and the spores are dark brown, and all species in the
genus smell very much like the cultivated mushroom. |
Agaricus campestris
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| This genus contains several edible species
including the field mushroom (Agaricus campestris) and the
cultivated mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) - the two mushrooms most
used often in British cuisine. Many other species in this order are good
edible mushrooms, but this group does contain other fungi of causing
stomach upsets or in some cases more serious symptoms. |
Lepiota
Fungi in this genus have white or very pale free gills, often a stem ring left by the partial
veil (although the ring is transient in several instances), white spores, and
usually a cap surface that is broken into small scales. The large
Parasol (genua Macrolepiota) and several other species from this group are prized edible
mushrooms, some of the smaller parasols are poisonous. |
Macrolepiota
procera
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| There are some 200 European species identified within the family Agaricaceae. |
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