Summary:
This is the common shaggy parasol of the Pacific Northwest that has usually been known as Macrolepiota rhacodes or Macrolepiota rachodes (Vittad.) Singer, (Chlorophyllum rhacodes is a much less common species). The outstanding features of Chlorophyllum brunneum are 1) large brown scales on a pale cap with a brown center, 2) free white gills that often bruise orange, 3) a prominent single-edged ring, 4) an abruptly marginate bulb at the base of the stem, 5) bruising of flesh to orange and then reddish, 6) growth most often in gardens, on compost heaps, or in leaf beds, and 7) microscopic characters including clavate cheilocystidia and spores often with truncate apex. |According to Vellinga(3), illustrations include those for Lepiota rachodes var. hortensis in Arora(1) and for Lepiota rhacodes var. hortensis in Phillips(2) - Mushrooms and other fungi of Great Britain and Europe.

Cap:
10-15cm across, nearly spherical at first, "smooth and entirely reddish-brown, expanding to convex and disrupting into large angular scales, except at the center, exposing the whitish fibrous subcutaneous layer"

Flesh:
white, discoloring orange or reddish on cutting, but less strongly than C. olivieri

Gills:
free, broad, close; whitish when young, becoming dull beige, then brownish when old, often with orangy blotches when bruised, sometimes pale blue-green near stem; "edges smooth", (Siegel), white to cream, eventually dirty brown or brown-spotted, (Phillips)

Stem:
8-20(25)cm x 2-3cm, at top, 4-6cm wide at base, cylindric with an abrupt bulb that has an upturned margin, ''often forming a "gutter" round top of bulb'', interior has a narrow, cylindric hollow running through it; creamy to tan, dingy brownish when old; often "shiny with vertical brownish streaks"; bulb "covered in felty white mycelium", (Siegel), 6-7cm [sic] x 1.8-2.4cm, ending in a large nearly spherical bulb 4-6cm wide; white, discoloring brownish below the ring, (Phillips(2)), abruptly to marginately bulbous stem base (Vellinga(3)), stem length approximately equal to cap diameter (R. Sieger, pers. comm.)

Veil:
thin but tenacious, persistent ring, "upper surface whitish, underside often with adhering brown patch, edge spiky-shaggy", (Siegel), large, thick, double ring, (Phillips(2)), ring relatively simple, without a double crown, but with a tough brown patch on the underside, (Vellinga(3))

Odor:
"Often pleasantly savory, then musty in age", (Siegel), pleasant (Phillips)

Taste:
mild to "pleasantly earthy", (Siegel), pleasant (Phillips)

Microscopic spores:
spores 10-13 x 7-8.5 microns, elliptic to almond-shaped, "with a small germ pore, dextrinoid"; cheilocystidia club-shaped, (Siegel), spores 10-12.9 x 6.9-8.4 microns, elliptic - almond-shaped, with a truncate apex and broad germ pore, thick-walled, dextrinoid; basidia 4-spored, some 2-spored, 35-40 x 8-13 microns; pleurocystidia not seen, cheilocystidia 20-51 x 9-19 microns, clavate; clamp connections at base of basidia and cheilocystidia, (Vellinga(3)), spores 10-13 x 7.5-9.5 microns, elliptic with germ pore, dextrinoid, (Phillips(2))

Spore deposit:
whitish (Siegel)

Notes:
Collections were used from CA and OR, (Vellinga(4)). It is fairly common in WA (collections at University of Washington) and BC (collection at University of British Columbia).

EDIBILITY

"Edible and excellent, but can cause serious gastrointestinal upsets (even in people who''ve eaten them without problems in the past). Use only very fresh caps, cook them thoroughly, and don''t eat large quantities. Also, be aware of the habitat in which they were growing - Chlorophyllum are known to accumulate heavy metals.", (Siegel(2), with Latin name italicized), excellent but some have gastric upset, (Phillips(2)), there are reports of severe gastrointestinal reactions to Chlorophyllum from regions where Chlorophyllum molybdites does not occur, (Benjamin), make sure it is not Chlorophyllum molybdites!

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Macrolepiota rhacodes var. brunnea (Farl. & Burt) Candusso