Widely reported from North America and Europe
Very common in the Midwestern United States. Formerly called Leucoagaricus americanus. Macropsalliota americana pops up in urban settings during the summer and fall months. A stately mushroom that will catch your eye if you walk by. I’ll let the images and links below provide a formal description.
These images show a 24 hour time lapse and the reddish coloration that develops as the mushroom ages. These specimens were growing from chainsaw cuts in a maple stump at a city park.
This shows a 48 hour time lapse. Lawn next to a roadway where a tree was removed to replace a sidewalk.
This is a good edible mushroom. Strangely enough, I rate the fat stems as choice. The cap flesh is kind of flimsy and insubstantial, but the stems fry up nice and crispy and impart excellent flavor. Try it, you’ll like it. -Be sure to get a pure white spore print. At some stages of development and in some habitats (on lawn) Macropsalliota americana could be mistaken for the poisonous Chlorophyllum molybdites, which has a greenish spore print.
This mushroom has a long and winding taxonomical history. Back in the day, this mushroom was called Lepiota americana, and is still referred to commonly as the Reddening Lepiota. In 2000, it was reclassified as Leucoagaricus americanus and that’s what we’ve called it for the last couple decades. Now, in 2024, a group of Chinese mycologists have changed the name again to Macropsalliota americana, which is recognized as legitimate at the Index Fungorum, a global index for fungal taxonomy. Name changes are a common occurrence these days with the insight provided by DNA sequencing.
Resources:
- See Leucoagaricus americanus at MushroomExpert.Com
- The American Parasol: A Comprehensive Identification Guide
- Phytotaxa paper recognizing the genus Macropsalliota
- Synonymy of Macropsalliota americana at Index Fungorum
- Lepiota americana, Mushrooms Demystified , Arora, 1986, p. 301.
- Lepiota americana, The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms, Gary H. Lincoff, 1981, p. 513.