St George's Mushroom, Calocybe gambosa
Description
Calocybe gambosa, commonly known as the St. George's mushroom, is a very tasty edible fungi that froms rings in fields and on grass verges and roadsides during the spring months. It's common name unfortunately has nothing at all to do with dragons, but is related to when it first appears in the UK - on or around St George's Day in April! A quite large, white or off-white mushroom, the St George's is easy to ID thanks to it's pungent wet flower smell and the fact that it fruits very early in year, meaning it is extremely unlikely that it can be confused with anything else.
St George's Mushroom Checklist
Habitat
🐑 Grassland, including paddocks, fields and meadows.
🏡 Urban Green Spaces, including scrubland, parks and gardens.
🚜 Hedgerows, including field edges.
Commonly grows in small groups or rings.
Fruiting Season
🌸 Between April and May
Cap
🍄 Pale, white with slight brown tinge, irregular, with slightly inrolled margin. 5 to 15cm in diameter.
Gills
⚛️ White, wavy at the edges, terminating at the stem.
Stem
♊️ White, 2-4 cm wide, slightly bulbous at the base.
Flesh
⚪️ White, meaty
Aroma / Taste
👃 Smells rather funky, like wet flour or cucumber rind.
👅 delicious mushroomy flavour.
😋 A choice edible mushroom.
ID Notes
🟨 ID Difficulty - Novice
👀 There are no other commonly found pure white mushrooms that fruit so early in the year.
👃 The pungent aroma is key identifier of this mushroom.
Uses
🍄 Fungi - Used in mushroom recipes