A small, ringless, honey-yellow to tan Agrocybe of lawns, pastures and other grassy places. It is common and found worldwide. It has a tacky, smooth cap, brown gills and large spores with a germ pore. Confirming it usually needs a microscope, because many little brown mushrooms grow in the same habitat.
Edibility disputed; not recommended. Some sources list it as edible, others as inedible or not worthwhile. It is too small and too easily confused with other little brown mushrooms to collect for food. Toxic look-alikes include Hebeloma species and small brown-spored Conocybe, Pholiotina and Galerina species. Some of these contain amatoxins, for example Pholiotina rugosa, which has a ring and favors wood chips, flowerbeds and mulch rather than open lawn. Full safety details in notes.
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Habitat
Saprobic, alone or in groups in lawns, meadows, pastures, trail edges and gardens; occasionally on wood chips, manure or compost. Summer and fall in temperate areas, nearly year-round in warm or watered sites.
Distribution
Cosmopolitan. First described from Europe; common and widespread in North America; also reported from the Caribbean, South America, Asia and Oceania (MushroomExpert.com).
Characteristics
Cap: 1-3 cm, rounded to convex, then nearly flat; smooth, sometimes cracked, tacky when moist; dark honey yellow to orangish brown, fading to pale brownish yellow; white veil fragments may line the margin when very young; KOH red to pink. Gills: narrowly attached, pale yellow-brown, becoming darker brown. Stem: 2-8 cm long, 1-4 mm thick, about equal, colored like the cap, with white basal mycelium; no ring. Flesh: thin, whitish, unchanging. Odor and taste: mild or mealy. Spore print: dull brown. Spores: large, about 10-18 x 7-10 µm (Mykoweb gives 11-14 x 7-8 µm), ellipsoid, smooth, with a flattened end bearing a germ pore; the cap cuticle is cellular.
