Wood mushroom - Agaricus silvicola
- The Foraging Course Company
- Jun 11
- 2 min read
Edible mushroom - intermediate Season - summer to autumn Common names Wood mushroom, wood agaric
Scientific name meaning: Agaricus comes from the Greek Agarikon, meaning mushroom. Silvicola is from the Latin silva, meaning a wood or forest
Habitat  The wood mushroom can be found in woodland. |
Overall structure and growth  The wood mushroom is a saprobic mushroom living on dead and decaying leaf litter. It is usually found in rings groups. |
Cap  The white cap starts off spherical and flattens out with age. Older specimens' caps are completely flat. It can have a smooth to slightly fibrous surface. It can reach 6 to 15cm and often yellows when handled. |
Gills and spores  Starting off white, the gills become grey-pink and eventually chocolate brown. The gills are crowded and free (do not touch the stem). The spore colour is dark brown. |
Stem  The stem is turdy and white but yellows with age and handling. It can reach 5 to 8cm tall and is 1 and 1.5cm wide. It has a fragile, floppy ring, or skirt with cogwheel-like scales on its underside. The base is bulbous. |
Flesh, taste and smell  The flesh is white and bruises slowly yellow when handled. The flesh in the base of the stem is yellowish. The smell is of almonds or aniseed-like and the taste is mild. |
Possible lookalikes  Could be confused with any of the poisonous Agaricus - such as the yellow stainer (Agaricus xanthodermis), pictured, or inky mushroom (Agaricus moelleri) but these smell unpleasant of phenol or bottled ink and/or stain strongly yellow, particularly in the base of the stem, when bruised or cut. When the gills are white, confusion with poisonous Amanitas is possible. |
Use as food Must be cooked and can be used exactly as a cultivated mushroom. It has an aniseed/perfumed taste that some people do not enjoy Hazards This mushroom can grow on roadside grass verges where it can accumulate traffic-related toxins. It is advisable to avoid harvesting from the sides of busy roads
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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