Parasol Macrolepiota procera
This edible, cream coloured, large agaric can reach up to 25cm in diameter and 30cm in height. The white gills and brown-marked stem bearing a prominent double ring make this mushroom quite identifiable.
Conservation status in Norfolk
How to help
Please do not pick the fruiting bodies. These need to be allowed to produce and release their spores for reproduction.
Tony Leech
Information on the Parasol
How to recognise
The parasol is one of our largest agarics, that is a fungi with a stem and cap, reaching, and occasionally exceeding, 25cm in diameter and 30cm in height. The whole fungus is cream in colour with the cap covered in brownish velvety scales which are smaller and darker near the centre. The gills are white and the brown-marked stem bears a prominent double ring.
Care must be taken to distinguish the edible parasol from the similar shaggy parasol which some people find causes gastric upset. The shaggy parasol has an unmarked stem which bruises orange-red when scratched or rubbed.
Where to see
Look for the parasol in grassy places, even roadside verges, anywhere in Norfolk.
When to see
They can be seen from late summer to the end of November.
Did you know?
One Parasol found in Norfolk in 2007 was 44cm high.
Related questions
There are no questions regarding this species, perhaps you should ask us one?