I found this growing in some mulch outside. I consulted Arora's Mushrooms Demystified, but was left stumped. Here's some pics: Picture 1 - Spore print and tissue samples Picture 2 - Others where I found them
I just had a look under the microscope and the spores appear smooth and round. Here's a picture (sorry its slightly blurry, its my dad old desk microscope from 20-30 years ago): Microscopic view of spores
I don't know if this is Agrocybe or not, but wanted to suggest some other genera to perhaps look at as well: - Psathyrella: Suggested by the fringe at cap edge and the habitat, and particularly if it has a stem that snaps in two easily. But apparently few Psathyrellas have a ring and your mushroom does have one - Inocybe: cap top looks fibrous, but Inocybes apparently rarely have a ring. - Tubaria.
Thanks for the help Frog! I myself have been doubting the agrocybe possibility. I checked out the genera you suggested, but didn't find anything that matched all that well. Upon further investigation, though, I found that these mushrooms most closely resemble Agaricus diminutivus (smaller than ->) or Agaricus semotus What do you think?
Well, I'm just not sure what to call that spore colour. I find with the dark spored mushrooms I'm often stuck trying to decide if something is purple-brown or dull brown or some other kind of brown. That really bogs me down sometimes. I don't know Agrocybes well enough to rule them out. Did it have a distinctive smell by any chance? Inocybes sometimes give a clue to themselves through smells like corn and sperm and other wacky aromas. The Agarici I've run into so far have grouped themselves by either smelling like mushrooms, bandaids or almonds. I don't know A. diminutivus, but it looks like an awfully good match visually: Have you tried running your sample through an Agaricus key ? There's one here http://www.mykoweb.com/misc/Agaricus_key.pdf and here http://www.svims.ca/council/Agari1.htm
I have an older specimen that I saved in a paper bag in the refrigerator. It was a bit dehydrated, but the smell was a bit spermy to me (though it's not like I've smelled a lot of sperm :P), but really it just smelled like a mushroom. I asked my mother, and she just said it was mushroom-y too. My sister just said "ehhck... it smells bad", so I don't know what that means. I left another cap out to release spores over night, and it was definitely a DARK brown, a deep chocolate color. It was brown though, not really purple. I'm fairly certain now that it's A. diminutivus. I'll run this through the keys to see what turns up.
