Cracked Fieldcap

Agrocybe molesta

Roadsides, fallow land, gardens, parks. Spring (summer, sometimes autumn).

Fruiting bodies small. Cap 3—6 cm across, sometimes larger, flattened, with an umbo, when young slightly slimy, when old dry, usually cracked or even split, pale yellowish, cream, whitish or even colourless. Gills grey, later yellowish-brown, dark brown. Stem 3-9x0.3-1.3 cm, thickening towards the base, with a ring, white, grey, fibrous. Flesh thin, soft, white, with a rather sharp smell and an unpleasant taste. Characteristic features: gills grey, when old brown. Grows singly or in small groups. Edible, of low value. Uncommon. The Spring Fieldcap (A. praecox) is very similar; it differs only in that its cap is not cracked (smooth-surfaced) and it appears only in spring. Edible, of low value.