Mystery mushroom, Agaricus? Crown Heights lawn, fall 2009
It’s getting to be late fall so there’s and less mushrooms I’m finding in the park. But lo and behold, on a narrow median between the sidewalk and street in front of a big house on President Street in Crown Heights, there’s a whole nuclear family of mushrooms popping up. They’re stout with a rather boxy cap. Their gills are not exposed yet but I ask for permission from the home owner to pluck a few. But not before taking some photos of these intriguing things.
Mystery mushroom, Agaricus? Crown Heights lawn, fall 2009
someone takes a liking to this mystery mushroom. Crown Heights lawn, fall 2009
even the little ones emerge with a very stout base
the nuclear mystery mushroom family missed the school bus this morning
I brought some home but none of the gills were exposed for me to do a spore print. I hoped to visit the cluster daily so I could pick one that was open. But the next day, they were all gone. Not a trace. My guess is that the home owner either wanted to get rid of them all so no one else would come bothering her about it, or that she just thought they were bad news on her property. Who knows. People are scared of mushrooms sometimes, especially if they have kids or think someone is going to pick them, eat them, and perish.
I dreamt about these mushrooms though, that they were called “boxhead clubfoot mushrooms.” I googled that in the morning but nothing came up. Lemme know if you know what these (or any of these mushrooms on this blog) are. Thanks!!
