Verdigris Agaric

The cap is convex, broadening, and becoming umbonate with age. It is 2–8 centimetres (3⁄4–3+1⁄4 in) wide. At first it is a vivid blue/green, and very glutinous (slimy), with a sprinkling of white veil remnants around the edge. The colour in the gluten fades, or is washed off as it matures, and it becomes yellow ocher, sometimes in patches, but mostly at the centre. Finally, it will lose the blue-green coloration completely. The white stem is quite long and of uniform thickness. It has a fragile brown/black ring, and below this the stem is covered in fine white scales, or flakes. The gills are initially white, then clay-brown, and sometimes have a white edge. The spore print is brownish-purple, and the oval spores 7–10 x 5 μm.

Similar species. Stropharia caerulea Kreisel – a dowdier cousin. Stropharia pseudocyanea (Desm.) Morgan – a smaller; slighter, but strikingly similar grassland species, with a very fleeting ring. Psilocybe species stain blue and lack scaly stems.

This mushroom is common in grassy woods, and on roadside verges in Europe including Britain, Asia (Iran) and parts of North America, growing on rotting wood. It particularly favours wood-chip mulches in gardens, and parks.

The verdigris agaric is reported as poisonous in many guidebooks printed in the Western Hemisphere, but the effect of poisoning and toxic constituents are unclear. According to some European guidebooks the verdigris agaric is edible, but undesirable to some due to a mildly spicy taste.