Shaggy Parasol Macrolepiota rhacodes (Vittad.) Singer syn. Chlorophyllum rhacodes (Vittad.) Vellinga syn. Lepiota rhacodes (Vittad.) Quél. (illustrated 30% life size) Cap 5–15cm across, ovate, expanding to almost flat; disrupting into broad, pallid, often slightly reflexed scales on a fibrous background, giving the cap a shaggy, torn appearance. Stem 100–150×10–15mm, thickened towards the bulb, which is usually oblique; whitish, tinged dirty pinkish-brown, bruising reddish-brown when fresh; ring double, membranous, movable on the stem. Flesh white, becoming orange to carmine-red on cutting; taste pleasant, smell strongly aromatic. Gills white, tinged reddish in older specimens, bruising reddish. Spores 10–12×6–7¼, elliptic with germ-pore; dextrinoid. Spore print white. Habitat in woods and shrubberies of all kinds, often with conifers; summer to late autumn. Common. Edible but may cause gastric upsets in some people.
