Panaeolus semiovatus - Egghead Mottlegill

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Panaeolus semiovatus, the egghead mottlegill, is invariably found on dung or recently manured soil and can appear at any time of year provided the ground is not frozen. It is small, inedible and rather brittle.

Separating this Panaeolus from other members of the same genus is very straightforward, because this is the only member of the clan that has a stem ring. (You need to loook at young specimens, because the ring is fragile and sometimes falls or washes off at maturity.)

Identification guide

	Cap Hemispherical or like half an egg (hence the specific name ovatus); 2 to 6cm in diameter; clay coloured or cream-brown; drying smooth and shiny but tending to wrinkle in dry weather. The cap flesh is thin and off-white.
	Gills Off-white becoming mottled brown and darkening to black as the spores mature; often paler at the edge; adnate and crowded.
Stem	The stipe (stem) is tall and slender. Although the lower two-thirds of the stipe is the same colour as as the cap, the colour becomes noticeably paler towards the apex. A white, fragile, superior (upwards facing) ring persists to maturity. The stem flesh is yellowish and very brittle.
Spore print	Black.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	On or beside dung, particularly on upland meadows and common land.
Season	Mainly May to November, but these fungi may appear throughout the year if there is a spell of mild weather.
Occurrence	Fairly frequent.
Similar species	Stropharia semiglobata, the Dung Roundhead, is more spherical, has a transient ring and leaves a brown spore print.