Agaricus semotus Fries
Monogr. Hym. Sueciae II:347.1863.

Common Name: none

• Pileus

  Cap 2-6 cm broad, convex, broadly so to nearly plane in age, sometimes with a low umbo; margin at first incurved, then decurved, finally either plane or slightly raised; ground color cream-buff covered with vinaceous-brown to buff-brown appressed squamules or fibrils concentrated near the disc, diffuse towards the margin; surface bruising yellowish, eventually orange-brown, yellowing in KOH; flesh white to pallid, soft, thin; odor and taste of anise.

• Lamellae

  Gills free, close, moderately broad, at first cream, becoming light brown, at maturity dark-brown.

• Stipe

  Stipe 3-7 cm tall 0.4-0.8 cm thick, round, stuffed, equal to tapering to an enlarged base; surface silky to finely longitudinally striate at the apex, elsewhere smooth or with scattered fibrils and scales, conspicuous rhizomorphs at the base; color white to cream, bruising yellowish to tawny-brown; veil membranous, thin, forming a narrow, fragile, buff to light-brown, superior ring, occasionally leaving fragments on the young cap.

• Spores

  Spores 4.5-5.5 x 3-3.5 µm, elliptical, smooth, thick-walled; spore print dark brown.

• Habitat

  Solitary to gregarious in forest litter.

• Edibility

  Edible, but unsubstantial.

• Comments

  This woodland Agaricus is recognized by its modest-sized, anise-odor, cap with vinaceous to brown appressed fibrils/squamules concentrated near the disc, and yellow to tawny bruising reaction. Other anise-odored, forest-dwelling Agaricus species include Agaricus silvicola, which is larger, cream-colored with a smooth cap and Agaricus diminutivus, a smaller, more slender, mushroom which usually lacks an umbonate cap. Another look-alike is Agaricus micromegathus, a rare, grassland species, also smaller, but otherwise similar.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Fred Stevens: Agaricus semotus (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Agaricus semotus (CP) -- older sporocarps
  • Michael Wood: Agaricus semotus (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Agaricus semotus (CP) -- closeup of cap
  • Pilze, Pilze, Pilze: Agaricus semotus (CP)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 3): sp. 191 (D, I, & CP)
  • Jordan: p. 226 (D & CP)
  • Kerrigan: p. 45 (D & CP)

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)