Stropharia aeruginosa

Taxobox
color = lightblue
name = "Stropharia aeruginosa"
status = common

---

regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
classis = Agaricomycetes
ordo = Agaricales
familia = Strophariaceae
genus = "Stropharia"
species = "S. aeruginosa"
binomial = "Stropharia aeruginosa"
binomial_authority = (Curtis)Quel.mycomorphbox
name = Stropharia aeruginosa
whichGills = adnate
capShape = convex
hymeniumType=gills
stipeCharacter= bare
sporePrintColor=brown
howEdible=poisonous

"Stropharia aeruginosa", commonly known as the verdigris agaric, is a medium-sized green, slimy woodland mushroom, found on lawns, mulch and woodland from spring to autumn. It is deemed poisonous by some authorities, although effects are little known and its toxic constituents undescribed.

Taxonomy

The French mycologist Lucien Quélet gave it its current binomial name in 1872, after it was initially described as "Agaricus aeruginosus" by Curtis in 1784. The Dutch mycologist Michael Noordeloos placed it in the genus "Psilocybe" in 1995. The specific epithet "aerūgǐnōsa" is Latin for 'covered in verdigris (copper-rust)'.cite book | last = Haas |first=Hans | year = 1969 | title = The Young Specialist looks at Fungi |pages=p. 215| publisher = Burke | isbn= 0-222-79409-7|quote=L. "aeruginosus" 'covered in copper-rust']

Description

The cap is convex, broadening, and becoming umbonate with age. It is from 2-8 cm in diameter. At first it is a beautiful blue/green, and very glutinous (slimy), with a sprinkling of white veil remnants around the edge. The colour in the gluten fades, or is washed off as it matures, and it becomes yellow ochre, sometimes in patches, but mostly at the centre. Finally it will lose the blue-green colouration completely. The stem is quite long and of uniform thickness. It has a fragile brown/black ring, and below this the stem is covered in fine white scales, or flakes. The gills are initially white, then clay-brown, and sometimes have a white edge. The spore print is brownish-purple, and the oval spores 7-10 x 5 μm.cite book | author = Roger Phillips | year = 2006 | title = Mushrooms | publisher = Pan MacMillan |pages=p. 248| isbn = 0-330-44237-6]

imilar species:

*"Stropharia cerulea": Kreisel a dowdier cousin.
*"Stropharia psuedocyanea": (Desm: Fr.) Morgan. a smaller; slighter, but strikingly similar grassland species, with a very fleeting ring.

Distribution and habitat

This mushroom is common in grassy woods, and on roadside verges in Britain, Europe, and parts of North America, growing on rotting wood. It particularly favours wood-chip mulches in gardens, and parks.

Toxicity

The verdigris agaric is reported as poisonous in many guidebooks,cite book |last=Arora |first=David |year=1986|title=Mushrooms demystified: a comprehensive guide to the fleshy fungi |edition=2nd ed. |location=Berkeley |publisher=Ten Speed Press |isbn=0-89815-169-4| pages=p. 380] yet the effect of poisoning is little known and toxic constituents unknown. [cite book | last = North| first = Pamela | year = 1967 | title = Poisonous Plants and Fungi in colour | publisher = Blandford Press & Pharmacological Society of Great Britain |pages=p. 111-12]

References