Found in cow dung after rain

[Madhava]

Found some cap mushrooms in dung after rain northern NSW, not cubensis, much smaller, some of them very golden. Anyone know what they are? 

Edited April 1, 2018 by Madhava
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[Berengar]

Probably Protostropharia semiglobata.

[∂an]

If they have dark spores and the white flesh turns blue when bruised, then they are probably panaeolous cyanescens.  Lots of them throughout NSW at the moment.  Typically they are mostly white with a yellow patch at the crown, but under certain circumstances they can appear yellow/golden all over the cap.  

 

But there are other dung mushrooms that are a rusty "golden" colour all over including the gills and spores, so to be sure of an ID post a picture.

[teamwhy]

I think they are panaeolus foenisecii cos the one is the background has no bruising... but they could be cyanescens. 

[Berengar]

That picture doesn't show much except that it's a Panaeolus species. I really can't see how that could be considered 'golden', but oh well...

Dan was probably right, it could be P. cyanescens, squeeze it a bit and check for blue bruising. If it bruises it's P. cyanescens, if it doesn't it's antillarum or acuminatus.

[Halcyon Daze]

I've always wondered what they were. Heaps around SE QLD and Nth NSW sometimes thousands of them. They get a definite silvery golden sheen as they get older, but not as golden yellow as cubes get.

 

I just figured they are some kind of Panaeolus. Possibly edible, possibly poisonous but not worth the risk in finding out. I call them 'brown soldiers' LOL

 

Someone's gotta know what they are.

[Anodyne]

ah ok, we have pictures now! I'll withdraw my "semiglobata" vote then, as we seem to have different ideas of "very golden".

 

Panaeolus seconded, and I'd probably lean towards antillarum over the other options on Berengar's shortlist just on the basis of that silvery sheen plus the pale stem on that older specimen - cyanescens & acuminatus stems *tend to* go darker than that as they age (acuminatus ->brown, cyanescens->dark blue streaks). I'd want to see more specimens though, and would still bruise them to be sure. Average cap sizes could help ID too, as antillarum *tend to*  be several times the size of those other pan species.

 

But if they're antillarum, yes they're supposedly edible but don't have any amazing flavour (I think I saw them described as "watery-tasting" once, which seemed apt) - I only learned that relatively recently though so what with the "meh" taste descriptions & the fact that there are usually much better edibles to be found around wherever antillarum are - I've never bothered. There have been reports of psychoactivity, but I think all of those turned out to be based on various people (including mycologists) mis-identifying pan cyans:

 

Quote

Early in the 1950s and 1960s, many journal publications in Australia and newspaper articles wrote about the problems caused by what became known as the 'Hysteria Fungus.'

Published papers and news articles showed images of Panaeolus antillarum, describing it as the cause of many emergency room intoxications when it was actually species of Copelandia cyanescens which were misidentified by many professional Australian mycologists as Panaeolus antillarum.

Later, thanks to R.V. Southcott and Narcotics officer Dr. Hall, it was shown that the actual mushrooms responsible in the news as the 'hysteria fungus' was actually Copelandia cyanescens and not Panaeolus antillarum, an inactive species that sometimes is macroscopically misidentified as a Copelandia species. While they do look similar, the primary difference is in the intense bluing by the oxidation of psilocine when the flesh of the mushroom is damaged.

 

Southcott, R. V. l974. Notes on Some Poisonings and other Clinical. Effects Following Ingestion of Australian Fungi. South Australian Clinics 6(5):442

 

Edited April 1, 2018 by Anodyne

[∂an]

Pretty sure it is p. antillarum, the "weed panaeolous".  When they are young they can sometimes appear similar to p. cyanescens, but at this more mature stage they are quite distinct. The usual antillarum differentiators for me are the silvery convex cap with a distinctive smooth texture, and the slightly thicker stem that turns a very light brown rather than blue when bruised (i.e. squished and left in your pocket for 5 minutes as you moo-ve on through the green fields).  

 

It is interesting observing the different "paddock" mushrooms.  Usually antillarum will fruit first (even in late winter), as it appears to not have such stringent humidity, moisture and temperature requirements as cyanescens and cubensis.  One or the other usually dominates too - i.e. a field will have either mostly antillarium, mostly cyanescens or mostly cubensis.  Just as antillarum drops off, one of the others will pop up.  I guess they have evolved to fulfil slightly different climatic niches.

 

Here are some pics of some active panaeolous (not sure if cyanescens or cambodginiensis etc) for reference:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2018 by ∂an
more pics

[Madhava]

thanks everyone for your help! Picture was not the best, some of them where very gold, I guess as they got older ? Definitely didn't bruise blue, brown instead. The same field last year was full of cubensis, this year not a single one, unless someone beats me to it