Stropharia caerula
Blue Rounded
Status:
Common
Meaning belted.
Cap:
3-7cm
Stem:
3-9cm
Means sky blue.
Description
When seen fresh it is a striking species, but ideal specimens can be harder to find than slightly 'worn' ones. Fresh it has a wonderful blue-green colouring on the cap which should have small white woolly scales around the edge. The stem appears pale, almost white when it emerges too. Even within a few hours these fade, the scales can disappear from the cap, the stem shows more of the flesh colour and even the cap begins to fade to a yellow-green colour, in some instances with no blue-green colour on the cap at all - although the stem retains some. Often confused with the Verdegris Agaric (Stropharia aeruginosa).
Smell
Not distinctive.
Season
Autumn.
Habitat & Distribution
Woodland edges, grassland and frequently on mulched flower beds and gardens. It is common across the UK, and probably often mis-reported as the Verdegris Agaric (Stropharia aeruginosa).
Edibility
Poisonous. It is also known to contain psilocybin properties which are hallucinogenic, it was also cause gaustric upset.
Confusion Species
Spores
7-9 x 4-5ยต, smooth, ellipsoid.
Spore Print Colour
Brown-purple.
There are two species this could be confused with. The first is the Verdegris Agaric (Stropharia aeruginosa), the main feature to look for is a white edge to gills, which the Verdegris Agaric has, the Blue Roundhead does not.
The Peppery Roundhead (Stropharia pseudocyanea) is very similar occuring in grassland, but has a distinctive peppery smell, which the Blue Roundhead does not.