Wild Mushrooms and Fungi Guide

This is the description page for Field Mushroom (Agaricus campestris) and includes a description as well as an image, if available and a selection of recipes from this site that relates to the wild foodstuff: Field Mushroom.

The Field Mushroom, Agaricus campestris, (also known as Meadow Mushroom) is a basidiomycete fungus (filamentous fungi composed of hyphae that reproduce sexually) and is a member of the Agaricaceae (Agaricus) family of fungi. Its species name campestris is derived from the Latin word campus (meaning 'field'), and it is found most commonly in meadows either mown for hay or grazed by horses, cattle or sheep. It can be found worldwide and appears in fields and grassy areas after rain from late summer through autumn (but is most common in late August and September, though it can be found as early as June and as late as November). It is fast maturing and has a short shelf-life and ideally should be consumed immediately after picking.

The Field Mushroom grows alone (ie it is not dependent on tree species), gregariously, or sometimes in fairy rings where it tends to stimulate the growth of grass inside the ring. It is closely related to the cultivated white 'button mushrooms' sold in grocery stores but, typically, the Field Mushroom is smaller and rather more delicate in stature, while having the same characteristic mushroom smell.

Young specimens have closed caps and bear tightly-packed bright pink gills that are covered by a veil. As the mushroom matures the cap opens and becomes less and less convex, eventually flattening out. The gills darken becoming brick red then chocolate brown and finally black and slightly mucilaginous. As the fungus opens the veil tears away from the cap, leaving a transient membranous ring which can often become rubbed off. The cut flesh colours slightly pink. Typically the cap is a pure white, but there are variants that bear light brown scales and as the mushroom ages even the white ones tend to develop brown scales near the center of the cap. The margins of the cap remain inrolled until maturity where they flatten. The stipe (stem) is short and white and bruises brown whilst the flesh bruises slightly reddish and the mushroom has a stronger smell than the shop-bought varieties. The spore print is dark brown.

Maximally the cap grows to between 5 and 10cm in diameter and the stipe is usually between 3 and 7cm tall. It is widely collected and eaten and many consider it the only mushroom safe to consume. If picking in grassland and not near trees it is generally safe to pick. Typically it is confused with the Horse Mushroom, which is safe and good to eat. Care, however, should be taken not to confuse it with the poisonous Yellow Staining Mushroom Agaricus xanthodermus which gows in the same habitat but is distinguished by an unpleasant ink-like smell, its flattened top at the button stage, its white or grey gills (when young) and the cut stem that rapidly yellows. The same is true if you bruise the fungs margin with your thumb. Whilst not fatal it can cause severer gastric upset and diarrhoea in some for several days. The Yellow-staining mushroom is occasional being much commoner in some years than others. Like all Agaricus species field mushrooms lend themselves well to preserving by drying.

Duxelle
Mushroom Chutney
Mushroom Rarebit
Tattie Scone with Bacon and Field Mushrooms
Mushroom Pâté
Mushrooms in Lettuce Leaves
Field Mushrooms in Buttermilk
Mushroom Pickle