St George's Mushroom

Description

It has a thick, fleshy cap 6–12 cm across, creamy white, smooth and matt, with an inrolled, wavy margin. The gills are crowded, whitish or cream, the stem stout, solid, without a ring. The flesh smells of fresh flour.

It grows from April to June in meadows, pastures, forest edges and gardens, often in rings and arcs. In Poland it is common.

It can be confused with deadly dangerous species appearing at a similar time and in a similar habitat, especially the livid pinkgill and the red-staining inocybe. Check the smell, the colour of the gills and the spore print, and whether the flesh turns red. If you have even a shadow of doubt, do not collect it.

Identification features

Cap

Diameter 5–15 cm (descriptions give different ranges); bell-shaped to conical when young, then arched, finally flat; not hygrophanous, thick-fleshed, usually with a small, blunt umbo. Margin inrolled for a long time, often wavy. Surface smooth, matt, whitish to cream.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Gills thin, crowded, notched with a tooth and adnate to the stem; whitish or cream in young specimens, pale ochre in older ones.

Stem

Height 4–9 cm, thickness 1.5–4 cm; barrel-shaped in young specimens, cylindrical in older ones, stout, hard, solid. Surface smooth, white to cream, often pale ochre in the lower part. Without a ring.

Flesh

Whitish, thick, firm, does not change colour when damaged. Taste mild, smell of fresh flour (according to some descriptions mealy or cucumber-like). Do not taste the flesh of unidentified mushrooms.

Spore print and spores

Spore print white. Spores ellipsoid, smooth, 4–7 × 2–3.5 µm.

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Saprotroph, growing on the ground in meadows, pastures, forest edges, gardens, thickets and grassy slopes, often on soils rich in lime. Forms fairy rings (on the South Downs in England ancient rings, with an estimated age of several hundred years).

Distribution. Mainly Europe, also localities in the USA and Japan. In Poland common, in the lowlands, uplands and foothill areas. Not legally protected.

Fruiting. From April to June (exceptionally in July, in some years even in late autumn); earlier in warmer countries (in Italy from March), later in cooler ones.

What can it be confused with?

• Entoloma sinuatum (the livid pinkgill; Polish: dzwonkówka trująca) — Strongly poisonous. More pinkish; the gills in young specimens are also white, but in older ones turn pink, and the spore print is pink. Smell rancid.
• Inosperma erubescens (the red-staining inocybe; Polish: włóknik ceglasty) — Strongly poisonous, grows in the same habitats. Larger umbo on the cap, reddish tinge, a sharper fruity smell and reddening damaged areas; according to some descriptions it grows in forests.
• Melanoleuca strictipes — Inedible; detailed differences — no data.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• The English name "St. George's mushroom" comes from St George's Day (23 April), around which it appears in Great Britain.
• The German name Maipilz and the Danish Vårmousseron point to early spring fruiting; in Italy it is called marzolino (March).
• In the Basque Country it reaches very high prices, and demand is so great that the mushroom is imported from Eastern Europe (Romania, Hungary, Turkey).