Usually found in the late summer and autumn, this mushroom was first recorded in the UK only in 2000*, and is mostly found in the south of England. Well, this one appeared in my garden in the Central Belt of Scotland last Friday (11 April)! It popped out in an old abandoned flower pot.

The cap is cream in colour with a slight central umbo, and slightly scaly. Gills are emarginate light cream and crowded. There are black marks on the rough stipe that set this mushroom apart from other similar white mushrooms.

Spores are oval, averaging 7.8 x 4.5 µm, with an average Q of 1.73, and slightly warted.

cap from bellow Cap and stipe from below.

cap from bellow Cap from below showing emarginate gill attachment.

spores under a microscope; focus stacked Focus stacked image of the spores, showing small surface warts (mounted in KOH).

spores with measurements Spore measurements.

gill surface under a microscope Gill surface (dyed in Congo Red) showing a couple of pointy pleurocystida cells.