Can anyone identify this fungus?

[paddyx]

Just recently found lots of mushroomy things growing on our allotment, particularly on the woodchips in our polytunnel. My girlfriend wants to eat them, but I'm being mega-cautious.
I can tell it's not a death cap or destroying angel, but there are plenty of other nasties out there.
I've taken a pic:
http://www.floppycat.com/images_misc/fungus2.jpg
I've taken what I think is a spore print: I put it on a white piece of paper and got a brown "fingerprint".
Any advice would be welcome - it would be great if it were something we could eat.
Thanks
Paddyx
(Argh, it's POURING with rain, though we had a few minutes of dry at the lottie yesterday evening. Our 2 water buts are overflowing: we need more!)

[paddyx]

[Curryandchips]

I am rather relaxed when it comes to fungi, although it has been commented that I have a cast iron stomach. Apart from the 'big four', there are not any other poisonous fungi in the UK, although the majority are tasteless or unpleasant tasting, the odd one may give you a queasy tummy. Like you, I saw fungi growing on the woodchips on our allotments, similar to yours, and harvested them for omelettes. Edible, but the flavour was a bit disappointing, Morrisons button mushrooms had more taste !!!

If you are going to get into the habit of eating wild fungi, it is worth getting yourself a small reference book, targetted for eating, so you can feel comfortable with your decisions.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Very hard to tell with only a view of the underside. Possibly an Inocybe? As Curry said, get to a bookshop and get a decent identification book, they're not hard to find.

[OllieC]

Unless you have positively identified it as something tasty, or at the very least edible, you really shouldn't even think about eating them. There are loads of funny little brown mushrooms out there that range from tasting of not a lot, pass through tasting bad but not harming you, move on to taste like cr@p and possibly giving you an upset tummy, right up to Hospital visits, stomach cramps, kidney failure...

As a child, I used to go for walks with my father and pick Chanterelle by the bagload, as well as other mushrooms that we KNEW were edible. My father is a botanist and we carried several field guides with us and never ate anything without a positive identification. There's just no point.


Also, as already said, it's a bit hard to tell from that photo, but they don't look all that tasty to me.

[Trixiebelle]

I've got some of that in my fridge ... and I DIDN'T buy it!  ;)

I agree with OllieC.

[saddad]

The Problem with Fungi is not all of them are Fun Guys to be with!

[redimp]

Don't know but its not worth making tea with.

[supersprout]

The Problem with Fungi is not all of them are Fun Guys to be with!

http://www.fungitobewith.org/  ;D ;D ;D

[paddyx]

Thanks for all the replies (apart from the bad puns - pass the Amoanita phalloides Fried (death cap) !  :o )
I took out Naturetrek guide "Mushrooms & Toadstools of Britain and Europe" and my fungi look like they're Roman Shield Entoloma. I took the plunge and ate a small one raw yesterday evening; tasted very nice - like a dried mushroom, which is what it was by then. No ill effects at all so far. Even the ones that kill you 6 days later (I think) give you some kind of hint in advance.

Though a quick hunt on the internet tonight came up with some "deadly poisonous" descriptions. Well, either mine ISN'T Romand Shield, or they're wrong.

I bought one home to show to the ambulane man / coroner if the worst happened, though I spent a good while studying them first.

They all seem to have disappeared now.

Would a small polytunnel in the shade of a hedge, floored with wood chippings be a good place to try out some mushroom kits?

Thanks again everyone
- Paddyx

[paddyx]

Still alive!  8)