Agaricus arvensis horse mushroom

this is my contribution to FungiFriday by @ewkaw

yesterday we were out searching for boletus in our favorite place but we came up empty-handed. earlier today we went for a long walk mainly by the sea but also partially in the forest hoping we might find some chicken of the woods or anything edible but again we found nothing.

there has been sufficient rain so while June is still early in the season we were a bit disappointed. today being the summer solstice and all, i decided to go out for a walk just before sunset, around 10 PM. the weather was great and the solstice is a special day so i didn't want to spend the evening indoors. i went where i often go, to the park that used to be a naval base, hoping to get some summery sunset shots.

to my surprise and delight i came upon a couple of champignons growing in the grass and resolved to pick them on the way back. there was a small flock of geese i wanted to get a few shots of first and i wanted to check out the outer section of the park first.

that is where i found a small group of them close together. one in particular had a extremely wide stipe, the likes of i had never seen before

having no knife i started to pick them by hand

i pulled away the grass around the base of the one with the wide stipe to get a better look and finally realized it was actually the cap of another mushroom growing below the upper one

i was sure these were champignons but i always check to make sure the gills are pink or gray to chocolate brown when mature. they have a prominent ring on the stipe. i bruise one or two to look for any color changes. a little yellowing is fine and indicates they are *Agaricus arvensis or if reddish A. campestris both of which are delicious, but if they turn too yellow and smell bad they are likely Agaricus xanthodermus yellow stainer and not edible.

it's too late in the evening to cook these up but i know what i will be having for lunch tomorrow. not only are these fungi fittin' vittles as my southern cousins used to say but they also play an important role in their ecosystem by decomposing organic matter and freeing up nutrients thereby enriching the soil.