A smallish, whitish to brownish Agaricus of lawns and grassy places in California, also recorded from central Mexico. It belongs to the yellow-staining, phenol-smelling group of the genus and is a frequent cause of mild poisonings when mistaken for the meadow mushroom. A thick, persistent felty ring, a mildly phenolic odor and a yellow KOH reaction on the cap separate it from edible look-alikes.
Poisonous: a gastrointestinal irritant. Wikipedia (citing Arora 1986) calls it mildly poisonous and often the cause of stomach upset, though some people eat it without symptoms; because reactions cannot be predicted it should not be eaten. Easily confused with edible A. campestris, A. arvensis and A. bisporus.
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Habitat
Saprobic, gregarious in lawns and other grassy areas, sometimes near oaks or Monterey cypress. Fall and winter.
Distribution
California (described from Pasadena) and central Mexico (MushroomExpert).
Characteristics
Cap: 3-7 cm (MushroomExpert; Wikipedia gives 5-12 cm), convex with an inrolled margin, then broadly convex; dry, bald to slightly fibrillose or scaly over the center; whitish with a browner center; KOH yellow on the cap surface. Gills: free or nearly so, close; whitish in buttons, then pink, then dark brown; covered by a white partial veil when young. Stem: 4-9 cm long, 1-1.5 cm thick, equal, whitish, with a thick felty white ring; not bruising or slightly yellow at the base. Flesh: white, unchanging or yellowish in the stem base. Odor: mildly phenolic. Spore print: dark brown. Spores: 5-7 x 4-5 um, ellipsoid, smooth.
