Key Features

Medium-sized to large: mature cap at least 3" broad Cap at first smooth and brown but soon breaking up to form shaggy scales on a pale (white, tan, or grayish) background, the center usually remaining smooth and brown. Flesh not staining orange or red when cut and rubbed. Gills white in all stages, free from stalk. Veil present, at first covering the gills, then forming a prominent double-edged ring on stalk. Stalk tall and slender (5-20" long, usually 3/8_5/8" thick at the top), the base without a volva. Stalk surface covered or belted with delicate brown scales (but these sometimes wearing away in age). Spores white. Other Features: Drumstick-shaped (with an oval cap) when young, the cap becoming flat or nearly so at maturity; stalk usually thicker at base but without a large bulb; ring usually movable. Where: Alone or in groups on ground in open woods and old pastures, along roads, etc. Common throughout most of the northern hemisphere, but in western North America presently known only from southern Arizona. Edibility: One of the best! The large, thin caps can be fried or broiled whole, or sliced up. Note: This handsome mushroom is much taller than the shaggy parasol and does not stain orange or red when cut. Its white spores and delicately scaly stalk distinguish it from the green-spored parasol.