TOKEY LADANG CENDAWAN BERCERITER

Agaricus arvensis: The Horse Mushroom

The Horse Mushroom is a stately and impressive mushroom, recognized by its preference for grassy areas, its cap colors (pale yellow to whitish, often with pressed-down fibers), its sweetish smell, and its "cogwheeled" ring. The cap will often bruise yellow if rubbed, and the flesh will sometimes turn yellowish on exposure to air--but the flesh in the base of the stem is not yellow, which helps distinguish it from other species. However, there are at least two genetically, biologically, and morphologically distinct species passing as "Agaricus arvensis"; see the comments below for details.

I have no idea why they call it the "horse mushroom," other than because it often grows in fields, and sometimes fields have horses in them. Seems kind of lame to me. I think they should call it the "Make Fun of the Foreigner Mushroom" instead, since my most memorable experience with the species involves me attempting to back away from a grill in Finland, where my Finnish girlfriend's Finnish father had just finished igniting the coals with a Finnish match . . . I backed away fast, and stumbled over a patch of very large Agaricus arvensis mushrooms. I landed flat on my American butt, with a little piece of Horse Mushroom on my face, and received a chorus of raucous laughter from my girlfriend's family. They had quite a few things to say about the sieniammattimies ("mushroom expert") and his expertise . . .

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously in grassy places (lawns, fields, and so on); summer and fall (also spring in California); widely distributed in North America.

Cap: 7-20 cm; convex at first, often with a somewhat flattened center; later broadly convex or flat; dry; white or pale yellowish when young; developing pressed-down fibers or scales (especially in dry weather); bruising yellow; the margin often with hanging partial veil remnants.

Gills: Free from the stem; crowded; whitish at first, becoming brown (without a pink stage).

Stem: 5-15 cm long; 1-3 cm thick; equal, or slightly bulbous; smooth, or with scales below the ring; white; sometimes bruising yellow; with a persistent, large ring that is often "cogwheeled" on the lower surface.

Flesh: Thick and white throughout; not changing color when exposed, or yellowing slightly; flesh in stem base not yellowing.

Odor and Taste: Odor sweet (reminiscent of anise or almonds) when young and fresh, becoming less distinctive; taste pleasant.

Chemical Reactions: Cap yellow with KOH.

Spore Print: Dark brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 7-9 x 4.5-6 µ; elliptical; smooth.

CLICK DOWN HERE

Show encrypted text