Garden Fungi – Macrocybe crassa

 
Grows in GRASS and MULCH.
 
Fruit-body: a large and heavy off-white mushroom that often grows in clumps. The cap is smooth to cracked (with age), convex to almost flat and the surface is pale cream to faint tan. With age, it turns patchily dark brown and develops cracks in the centre. The cap can be 40 – 400 mm diameter and sometimes several caps can be fused together. The stem is robust, 80-250 mm tall and up to 60 mm wide, with 10 or more often joined together at the base to form a clump. The gills are crowded and a cream or pale peach colour. The flesh is thick and has a characteristic mealy smell like stale flour.
 
Spore print: Pale cream.
 
Habit: Growing alone or in clumps in grassy or mulched places and is often seen in grass that has been allowed to grow long, on road verges. If you pick it you will notice how heavy it is. Some clumps weigh well over a kilogram.