Weeping widow - Lacrymaria lacrymabunda
- The Foraging Course Company
- 15 hours ago
- 2 min read
Edible mushroom - novice Season - spring to autumn Common names Weeping widow, teardrop mushroom
Scientific name meaning: Both parts of the name originate from the Modern Latin lacrymaris, meaning of or pertaining to tears
Habitat  Can be found in grassland or leaf litter. |
Overall structure and growth The weeping widow is a saprobic fungus growing in grass or leaf litter. It tends to fruit in small groups or clumps. There are often black spores on the leaf litter and foliage underneath it. |
Cap  The bell-shaped cap widens with age and is covered in red-brown/yellow brown hair-like fibres. At the edge of the cap, white remnants of the partial veil often remain. It has a centre umbo (bump) and reaches 4 to 12cm in diameter. |
Gills and spores  Starting off a yellow-brown colour, they quickly become dark brown and mottled and finally blackened. When moist, droplets of water stained with black spores form on the gills edges. The gills are crowded and adnexed (narrowly attached to the gills) to free. The spore colour is black. |
Stem  The stem is fragile and very pale brown, with a deeper brown colour towards the base. The surface of the stem is fibrous and includes the very fine remains of a fragile ring. Both the stem surface and ring remains become peppered with black spores. The stem can reach 5 to 10cm tall and is 0.5 to 1cm wide. |
Flesh, taste and smell The flesh is grey white. There smell is earthy and the taste is mild. |
Possible lookalikes  Could be confused with other Lacrymaria species but they have the same edibility. May be mistaken for Panaeolus species, such as the egghead mottlegill (Panaeolus semiovatus), pictured, but the black droplets would be a distinguishing feature of the weeping widow. |
Use as food Should be cooked. Not considered to be of great culinary value as it turns to mush quickly when cooked and has little flavour Hazards This mushroom often grows near roads. Mushrooms can bioaccumulate toxins, including heavy metals, so roadside harvesting should be avoided
Use in herbal medicine and medicine None known
If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner Other uses None known Importance to other species Provides food for a the larvae of a number of invertebrates
Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!
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