Stinking Dapperling

Description

The stinking dapperling is a small mushroom: the cap is usually 3–4 cm across, whitish, covered with concentric, russet-brown scales, with a darker, reddish-brown umbo in the centre. The gills are whitish and free, the stem slender, creamy white, with a thin ring that quickly disappears. The most characteristic feature is the unpleasant smell, reminiscent of burnt rubber or puffballs.

It is a saprotroph and a very common species: it grows from May to October in groups along grassy tracks, in gardens, thickets, on compost and in woods of all types, often in nitrogen-rich places, next to nettles and elder.

It is a poisonous species (according to some descriptions inedible). It is easily confused with other small dapperlings, some of which — like the chestnut dapperling — are deadly poisonous. Do not pick small dapperlings. If you are not sure of the species, do not pick it and do not eat it.

Identification features

Cap

Diameter 3–4 cm (descriptions also give 1–5 cm; on nitrogen-rich substrate, e.g. compost, up to 8 cm). Young — a closed cone, then spread out, with a distinct umbo; the umbo intense reddish-brown or dark ochre. The rest of the surface whitish to cream, covered with concentrically arranged pale ochre to red-brown scales.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Gills whitish to cream (browning with age), free (not attached to the stem), crowded, slightly bulging.

Stem

Slender, cylindrical, club-shaped thickened at the base; height up to 6–7 cm, thickness about 2–7 mm. Surface creamy white, almost smooth or with a few fibrils in the colour of the cap. In younger specimens a thin, membranous, funnel-shaped raised, fragile ring, which disappears with age. Stem solid at first, hollow in older ones.

Flesh

Thin, white, flesh-pink in the stem cortex. Smell strong, unpleasant — described as the smell of puffballs, burnt rubber, fishy or rubbery; taste described as mild and pleasant — it must not be tested; do not taste the flesh of this or any suspicious mushroom.

Spore print and spores

Spore print white (variety var. viridispora — grey-green). Spores wedge-shaped or spherical, smooth, with a dorsal spur, strongly or weakly dextrinoid; size 5–8 × 3–5 µm (descriptions also give 7–8.5 × 3–4 µm).

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Saprotroph. Grows singly and in groups in places altered by humans: along grassy forest tracks, on paths and verges, in gardens (especially shaded and damp ones), thickets, parks, on pastures, in woods of all types, at timber yards and on compost heaps, especially in places enriched with nitrogen compounds. It is often accompanied by small balsam, nettle and elder.

Distribution. On all continents except Antarctica and on many islands (including Europe, northern Asia, North America, New Zealand); common in Central Europe, probably the most frequently encountered dapperling. Not legally protected.

Fruiting. From May to October.

What can it be confused with?

• Lepiota clypeolaria (shaggy parasol) — Has a fibrous structure on the stem.
• Lepiota castanea, Lepiota boudieri and other dapperlings — The stinking dapperling can be distinguished by its exceptionally well-developed white ring, but in specimens with a vanished ring reliable identification is possible only microscopically. L. castanea is deadly poisonous.
• Lepiota ignivolvata — Has a bright orange or red-brown ring low on the stem.
• Lepiota lilacea — Rare, poisonous; violet to violet-brown colours.
• Lepiota saponella — Soapy smell, dirty gills, finer scales; spores more triangular.
• Macrolepiota procera (parasol mushroom) — The parasol mushroom is sometimes confused with this species. In Great Britain dapperlings were colloquially called "parasols", which encouraged mistakes; the parasol mushroom is many times larger, with a movable ring and a snake-like pattern on the stem.

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 species was described by James Bolton in 1788; the type specimen came from a garden in Warley Town in England (collected in 1787).
• The epithet cristata means "crested"; the English names brown-eyed parasol and burnt-rubber lepiota allude to the brown "eye" in the centre of the cap and the smell of burnt rubber.
• On nitrogen-rich substrates, e.g. on compost heaps, it forms fruiting bodies with a cap of up to 8 cm.
• It is probably the most frequently encountered dapperling in Central Europe.