Parasol Mushroom


This dinnerplate-sized monster of a mushroom is a Parasol mushroom (Macrolepiota procera). So named for being so broad that it appears like a small parasol! The cap can reach 25cm across and the mushroom can grow as tall as 30cm. Its height is even reflected in its species name, procera, meaning tall. This species is also the type species for Macrolepiota, meaning it was used to describe the genus.

A Parasol mushroom, with my hand for a size comparison.

A common mushroom around the UK, this mushroom has a habit of growing in rings, known as fairy rings in folklore. These were believed to act as a portal between the human and fairy world, and people were warned against stepping into them for fear of being transported to the fairy world and not being able to return. But some people believed that they were just places for fairies to dance.

Growing in rings is actually a phenomenon mimicking the growth pattern of the mycelium (underground part of the fungus). When the first mushroom (fruiting body of the mycelium) grows, its root-like mycelium grows outwards in a ring underground, searching for nutrients. In subsequent years, the fruiting bodies grow from where the mycelium has reached, so the circle expands year on year. Each mushroom emerges from the ground folded up, and the parasol opens (rather like a real parasol!) as it matures.

A young Parasol mushroom, yet to fully unfold.

The Parasol mushroom is edible, and it is sweet and tasty, though can only be eaten when cooked. Not to be confused with the smaller, but similar, Shaggy Parasol, which lacks the snakeskin-like patterning on the stem and turns red when cut, and can be toxic to some people.

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