fungus · The Trophy Room
The Prince
A big, handsome Agaricus that smells like almonds — the wild cousin of the button mushroom, scaled up and gone gourmet. The Prince turns up along woodland edges and disturbed ground, sometimes right beside a trail, and a mature one can be the size of a dinner plate.
Identifying
- large cap covered in golden-brown fibrous scales on a cream background
- gills start pale, then pink, then chocolate brown as spores mature (a true Agaricus trait)
- thick ring on the stem; flesh bruises slightly yellow, especially at the stem base
- smells sweetly of almonds or marzipan
Facts
- the almond smell + browning gills separate the good Agaricus from the ones that smell of ink or phenol and upset stomachs
- caution: avoid any all-white gilled mushroom with a sack-like base (volva) — that path leads to deadly Amanita; the Prince's brown spores and scaly cap keep you clear
- one of the best-flavored wild Agaricus, richer than anything in a grocery bin
