A tiny, delicate grassland mushroom with a deeply pleated, translucent cap that opens like a parasol and withers rather than dissolving into ink. Fruit bodies appear overnight after rain and last only a few hours. It is the type species of Parasola and generally needs a microscope to be told from close relatives.
Not poisonous as far as known, but inedible: far too small and thin-fleshed to eat.
Never eat a wild mushroom based on a web page — confirm with an expert.
Habitat
Saprobic in lawns, pastures and other grassy areas, usually in open sun; alone, scattered or in small groups, appearing at night after rain. Summer and fall, and winter in warm climates.
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Cap: 10-35 mm, ovoid becoming bell-shaped and finally flat; bald, deeply grooved or pleated; yellowish to orange-brown when young, graying in the grooves at maturity; no veil remnants. Gills: free, close to nearly distant, whitish becoming dark gray to black; not deliquescing. Stem: 35-100 mm long, up to 2 mm thick, white, hollow, very fragile; no ring. Flesh: very thin. Odor and taste: not distinctive. Spore print: black. Spores: 10-15 x 8-11 µm, angular-ovoid to lemon-shaped, smooth, with an off-center pore.
