Panaeolus fimicola - Turf Mottlegill

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

It is hard to imagine a duller mushroom, but this very dark mottlegill somehow manages to make itself conspicuous on lawns after rain. The dark-brown caps – sometimes almost black – fade with age, covering a huge range of shades of brown. You may find it listed in some field guides as Panaeolus ater. This is a toxic toadstool.(There can be small amounts of the hallucinogen psilocybin in these fungi, which lack the umbonate pips of Psilocybe semilanceata, the Liberty Cap or Magic Mushroom.)

Identification guide

Cap	1.5 to 4cm across; initially hemispherical or convex, expanding to become broadly convex; hygrophanous, dark reddish-brown, sometimes tinged with purple, drying paler brown; smooth, satin surface.
Gills	Adnate; grey-brown with white (initially) toothed edges becoming black as spores mature.
Stem	4 to 8cm long and 3 to 5mm dia.; dusted with a white bloom at apex, the middle and lower stem colour is as the cap; cylindrical; no ring.
Spore print	Black.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	On lawns, roadside verges and other grassy places.
Season	May to November.
Occurrence	Very frequent.
Similar species	Stropharia semiglobata, the Dung Roundhead, has a transient ring and leaves a brown spore print. Panaeolina foenisecii, the Brown Mottlegill, is a paler brown when wet and dries out from the cap centre to become creamy-beige.