Garden Fungi – Macrolepiota dolichaula

 
Grows in GRASS and MULCH.
 
Common Name: The Long Stemmed Parasol
 
Fruit-body: a very tall white mushroom with white gills and a bulbous base and a ring on the stem, growing in grass. The cap is almost like a globe when it is young but opens up into a convex shape, up to 125 mm diameter, it is covered in small white scales which wash off when it rains. The stem is white and very tall, up to 160 mm. It has a movable double ring near the top and is bulbous at the base. The gills are white and do not quite reach the stem.
 
Spore print: white.
 
Habit: usually growing in short grassland and in small groups, but also occasionally seen in mulched beds. It emerges after heavy rains in summer and autumn. Common in south east Queensland in parks and gardens and in paddocks that have native grasses.