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Know this look-alike

Fairy Ring and Fried Chicken Mushroom Look-alikes

These look-alikes can make you seriously ill. Get the identification right before you eat anything. Small whitish lawn and woodland mushrooms include several poisonous species. The ivory funnel (sweating mushroom) and fiber caps (Inocybe) carry muscarine, and the lead poisoner causes hours of violent vomiting. All are confused with edible lawn and woodland mushrooms such as the fairy ring and fried chicken mushrooms. Spore prints and habitat are essential here.

The dangerous species

Ivory Funnel (Sweating Mushroom) (Clitocybe dealbata / C. rivulosa (now Collybia))
pinonbistro · CC BY-SA
⚠ do not eat

Ivory Funnel (Sweating Mushroom)

Clitocybe dealbata / C. rivulosa (now Collybia)

How to tell it apart

  • A small white or white dusted with buff-coloured mushroom, the 2–4 cm diameter cap is flattened to depressed with adnate to decurrent crowded white gills Wikipedia ↗
  • Clitocybe rivulosa is a deadly poisonous and fairly common species that grows in habitats where people expect to find edible mushrooms. First Nature ↗
Inocybe (Fiber Cap) (Inocybe spp. (various species))
Mandy Hackney · CC BY
⚠ do not eat

Inocybe (Fiber Cap)

Inocybe spp. (various species)

How to tell it apart

  • The cap often appears fibrous, giving the genus its common name of 'fiber caps'. Wikipedia ↗
  • Many Inocybe species contain large doses of muscarine, and no easy method of distinguishing them from potentially edible species exists. Wikipedia ↗
Lead Poisoner (Entoloma sinuatum (E. lividum))
Lazar Popović · CC BY
⚠ do not eat

Lead Poisoner

Entoloma sinuatum (E. lividum)

How to tell it apart

  • Yellowish white initially, the sinuate, crowded gills of Entoloma sinuatum turn more pinkish as the spores mature. First Nature ↗
  • Symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting and headache occur 30 minutes to 2 hours after consumption and last for up to 48 hours. Wikipedia ↗

The notes above are an educational starting point, not a substitute for a field guide or an experienced forager. If you are not completely certain, do not eat it.