Dark Fieldcap

Agrocybe erebia

Forests, parks, scrub, raised bogs, riverbanks. Summer, autumn.

Cap 5-8 cm across, convex-flattened, with an umbo, matt when mature, margins grooved, greyish-violet-brown, chocolate, fading to greyish-brown. Gills pale brown, tobacco-brown, with a violet tinge, narrow, crowded, the edges as if encrusted with white, subdecurrent. Stem 5-9x0.5-1.5 cm, with a white membranous ring; above the ring the stem is dotted white and grooved, below it the colour of the cap. Flesh white. Characteristic features: gills narrow, crowded, stem with a prominent ring, pleurocystidia skittle-shaped (lageniform-fusiform), large. Grows in damp, grassy places, in groups. Edible, but of low value. Very rare, easily recognised; it should be classed as worthy of protection.