🍄⭐The January mushroom of the month is the Mulch Maid, Leratiomyces percevalli.
🙌 to Scott for naming that mushroom correctly and becoming the newest member of Central Texas Mycology!
You can also be a supporting member to stay dialed-in with events & discover next month’s mystery mushroom.
What’s that growing in my mulch pile?
Leratiomyces percevalii, commonly known as Mulch Maids, are a common companion of mulch piles, waste places, grassy areas, and woodchips. Growing throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia, these saprobic mushrooms are small but mighty decomposers. It is unclear whether these mushrooms are natives of north America or more recent immigrants. However, their benefit to our ecosystems is undeniable.
How to ID mulch maids
Cap - 2.5-8 cm; convex to broadly convex or broadly bell-shaped; sticky when fresh but soon dry; honey yellow when young, quickly becoming yellowish, whitish, or dingy olive; smooth or finely hairy in places; the margin adorned with hanging white partial veil remnants, especially when young.
Gills - Attached to the stem or beginning run down it; close; whitish at first, becoming purplish gray to purple-black.
Stem - 4-13 cm long; up to about 1 cm thick; equal or tapered to base; dry; with a ring zone that darkens with falling spores; finely hairy; whitish, developing reddish brown discolorations from the base upwards; base usually hairy, with prominent mycelial threads.
Flesh: Whitish.
Spore Print - Dark purple-brown to blackish.
are they edible?
Mulch maids are not known to be poisonous but nor are they considered forgeable. It is reported that they have a radish like flavor, though it is not recommended to experiment with unknown mushrooms.
A similar looking species that grows in similar habitat is Agrocybe praecox, the spring fieldcap, a species that looks similar but blooms in the spring instead of the fall.