Parasol mushroom UK guide: where to find it and how to tell it from lookalikes

Where parasol mushrooms grow in the UK

The parasol mushroom (Macrolepiota procera) is one of the biggest gilled mushrooms in Britain, with a scaly cap that can open to 25 cm across. It likes open, grassy ground more than deep woodland.

Look in woodland clearings, along grassy rides and in grassland next to woods. It also turns up now and then in pasture and on settled dunes.

It is frequent in southern Britain and less common in northern England and Scotland, apart from sheltered spots near the coast. GBIF holds more than 7,000 British records, so in the right place it is far from rare. For the parasol across Europe, see our general parasol guide.

When is parasol mushroom season in the UK?

Parasol mushroom season in the UK runs from July to November, which is how First Nature gives it for Britain. Our own records for Great Britain, built on several thousand dated finds, show the same window.

Its closest lookalike, the shaggy parasol, starts a little earlier, in June, and finishes in October. So a parasol-like mushroom in early summer deserves an extra careful look.

How to recognise a parasol mushroom

A parasol mushroom shows four things together: a big cap with brown scales, a stem with a brown snakeskin pattern, a thick ring that slides up and down, and free white gills.

Young parasols look like drumsticks: a tall stem topped by a round, pale brown cap with a dark centre. As the cap opens, its brown skin breaks into scales and it flattens to 10 to 25 cm, keeping a darker bump in the middle.

The ring often works loose and can slip down to the base. The gills are broad, crowded, white or pale cream, and do not touch the stem. The spore print is white or very pale cream.

Size is a check in its own right. First Nature advises leaving any parasol-like mushroom whose cap is smaller than 10 cm when fully open. For the full description, see our parasol mushroom card.

Is the parasol mushroom edible?

Yes, the parasol mushroom is a well-regarded edible species, but only when you are completely sure of it. First Nature calls it a choice edible.

Pick it at the large drumstick or half-open umbrella stage. The stem is very fibrous and is not eaten.

Leave small buttons where they are. Young amanitas can look similar before they open, and the Wild Mushroom Pickers' Code asks foragers not to collect unopened buttons at all.

Parasol mushroom vs shaggy parasol

The shaggy parasol (Chlorophyllum rhacodes) has a plain stem with no snakeskin pattern, and its flesh turns reddish when cut, while the parasol mushroom has a brown snakeskin pattern on its stem.

The shaggy parasol is also smaller and shaggier, with a very swollen stem base and a double ring. It is frequent in Britain, in all kinds of woodland and sometimes in rich, disturbed soil in gardens.

Sources disagree about eating it. The Woodland Trust says it is edible when cooked but upsets the stomach of about one person in 25. First Nature says it has made some people seriously ill and advises against picking it to eat. We follow First Nature and suggest leaving it. Our shaggy parasol vs parasol mushroom comparison goes into more detail.

Parasol mushroom vs false parasol

The false parasol is a different species, Chlorophyllum molybdites, and the surest difference is colour: its gills turn greenish with age and it leaves a green spore print, while the parasol's print is white or very pale cream.

It is a poisonous mushroom of lawns and parks, common in North America and warmer regions, where it causes vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach pain. In Britain it is very rare: GBIF has two British records and the NBN Atlas one.

So if you find a parasol-like mushroom in Britain that is not a true parasol, it is far more likely to be the shaggy parasol, which has thousands of British records. When a guide talks about a false parasol, check which species it means.

Parasol mushroom look alikes: the dangerous ones

The dangerous parasol mushroom look alikes in Britain are small dapperlings (Lepiota) and amanitas, and some of them are deadly.

Dapperlings look like miniature parasols, with caps of only 2 to 6 cm. Until recently British books also called them parasols, which has added to the confusion. The stinking dapperling is fairly common and may be seriously poisonous.

The deadly dapperling (Lepiota brunneoincarnata) is rare in Britain, but it contains amatoxins, the same kind of poison as the death cap, and people in Europe have eaten it thinking it was a parasol. This is the reason for the 10 cm rule.

Young amanitas are the other risk. The death cap is quite common in most of Britain, grows with broadleaf trees, especially oak, and has a large white sack around its swollen base. The panther cap is rare in Britain, grows mainly under oak or beech, and has pure white flecks on a brown cap with white remains of a sack at its base.

A rough guide: parasols usually have dark scales on a paler cap, while amanitas tend to have pale flecks on a darker one. There are exceptions, so always check the stem base. A sack, cup or rim of white tissue there means an amanita, so leave it.

Can you pick parasol mushrooms in the UK?

In England and Wales, picking wild mushrooms for yourself is not theft, as long as you do not pick them for sale or other commercial purpose. That does not give you a right to be on the land, so you still need access or the landowner's permission.

Protected land is stricter. The Wild Mushroom Pickers' Code says picking for the pot is unlikely to be allowed on some SSSIs and most nature reserves, National Nature Reserves included.

The New Forest has its own rules. It is an SSSI, and Forestry England says fungi picking is not allowed there. Commercial picking is not permitted anywhere on Forestry England land.

Wherever you pick, take only what you will eat. The code suggests no more than 1.5 kg per visit, or half of any one species, whichever is less. Our article Foraging ethics and the law covers the rules in more detail.

If someone feels unwell after eating a wild mushroom

If you think someone has eaten a poisonous mushroom, call 999. Do not wait for symptoms to get worse: after amatoxin mushrooms, the first symptoms can ease for a while even as the liver is being damaged.

Keep any leftover mushroom, raw or cooked, to show the doctors. Our mushroom poisoning first aid guide explains what to do while you wait.