Scaly Wood Mushroom / Summer / Autumn / Edible
The Scaly Wood Mushroom (Agaricus langei), often found in woodlands across the UK, is a prized edible mushroom known for its distinctive scaly brown cap and delicate flavour. With its robust, earthy aroma and ability to enhance a variety of dishes, this species is a favourite among seasoned foragers. It typically appears in late summer through autumn, growing in small groups or rings on forest floors rich with decaying organic matter.
Scientific Name
Agaricus langei
Common Name
Scaly wood mushroom
Family
Agaricaceae
Habitat
Saprophytic as are all Agaricus. This species can be found growing on leaf litter (mull soil) in woodland under trees mostly deciduous.
From late spring to late autumn
Description
Common and wide spread, appears singularly or in groups has a reddish, purple hue to the mushroom.
Identifying Features of the Scaly wood mushroom:
Cap:
Convex when young and then flattening out, they can reach up to 15cm across. The caps are light brown in colour with mid brown scales on their surface. The flesh will stain strongly red when damaged.
Stem:
1-2 cm thick smooth, strongly reddening and 5-10cm long. The stem is wider at the base in a bulbous shape and has the same brown tones as the scales on the cap. A large thin ring which is the remains of a partial veil covering the gills when young, as this breaks away it remains as a ring on the stem.
Gills:
The gills are pinkish when young they darken to a rich, chocolate brown colour as the spores mature. The gills are quite crowded and free from the stem.
Smell:
Pleasant, mushroomy
Spores:
Chocolate brown.
Uses of the Scaly wood mushroom
Delicious edible mushroom, they have a similar flavour to shop bought mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus), They work well in most dishes that call from mushrooms.
Known hazards
Agaricus as a genus is known for bio-accumulating heavy metals. Take care to find them in clean habitats, but as they prefer woodland this is of little concern.
Scaly wood mushroom Potential lookalikes
Other members of the Agaricus family look similar, to help single out others in this genus you can work through this check list.
- Most important is no yellow staining (this eliminates the poisonous Agarigus)
- Strongly stains red
- In woodland
- No chemical smells ( very likely poisonous)
The Agarigus sylvaticus is very similar but also edible, it has a slightly slimmer stem and prefers conifer woodland.
There are a couple of similar mushrooms not in the Agaricus family, Psathyrella maculata and Psathyrella cotonea which look very similar, are your unlikely to come across them as they are rare but a distinguishing feacher is they do not stain red.
Resources
Fungi of temperate Europe by Thomas Laesson and Jens H.Peterson