Field Mushroom
Agaricus campestris · Agaricaceae
Also called Meadow Mushroom
The classic mushroom of unimproved pasture: white cap, pink gills darkening to brown, and a clean mushroomy smell.
Edible. Always cut the mushroom out with the base intact and check for a volva, and always check that mature gills are pink to brown, never white.
Read the full foraging safety guidance.
Season
May to November
Where it grows
- Grassland
- Pasture
- Meadows
Identification
- Cap
- 3-10cm, white, dry and silky, sometimes with fine scales, edge often ragged.
- Gills / pores
- Free of the stem, bright pink when young, turning chocolate then near-black.
- Stem
- Short, white, with a thin fragile ring.
- Flesh
- White, barely bruising or slowly pinkish.
- Spore print
- Dark brown.
- Smell & taste
- Pleasant classic mushroom smell.
Lookalikes
Yellow Stainer bruises chrome yellow at the stem base and smells of ink or carbolic. Young Death Caps and Destroying Angels have WHITE gills and a bag-like volva at the base.
In the kitchen
Grill whole with butter, or slice into a breakfast pan. Best eaten the day it is picked.
Recipes using Field Mushroom
Also edible
Penny Bun
Boletus edulis
The most sought-after wild mushroom in Britain: nutty, firm and richly scented, with a pale bun-like cap and a fat netted stem.
Chanterelle
Cantharellus cibarius
Egg-yolk yellow, trumpet-shaped and smelling faintly of apricots. One of the safest and finest edibles once learned.
Horse Mushroom
Agaricus arvensis
A large relative of the field mushroom, smelling of aniseed and bruising slowly yellow in a harmless way.