How to tell Blushing wood mushroom from Inky mushroom
How they differ, how to recognize them and which is more dangerous — a mushroom comparison
Warning: Inky mushroom(Agaricus moelleri)
POISONOUS
Eating it causes poisoning. Do not pick it unless you have identified it with certainty.
Contains phenolic gastrotoxins, similar to those of the yellow stainer (A. xanthodermus). Causes acute gastroenteritis: nausea, repeated vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea 1-6 hours after eating. Symptoms last 12-24 hours. Not fatal, but unpleasant and potentially dangerous due to dehydration, especially for children.
As with the yellow stainer, some people (around 50%) have a genetic tolerance and don't react to the toxins. The rest react with acute symptoms. There's no way to know your sensitivity in advance. Our rule: don't eat it.
Treatment is symptomatic: gastric lavage (within the first 2 h), activated charcoal, IV fluids for dehydration, antiemetics. Recovery usually takes 1-2 days.
If you suspect poisoning, call an ambulance immediately: 112 (the European emergency number) or your local emergency number
The short answer
Blushing wood mushroom and Inky mushroom look alike, so they're easy to mix up — but Blushing wood mushroom is edible, while Inky mushroom is poisonous. The main visible difference: use: Blushing wood mushroom — cook fresh, drying, pickling, Inky mushroom — not eaten. The mushrooms also differ in the following features: cap color, taste, smell. If you have even the slightest doubt, leave the mushroom be.
Blushing wood mushroom
Agaricus silvaticus
Inky mushroom
Agaricus moelleri
📊 Comparing characteristics
⚠ Highlighted rows are the key differences between the edible and the dangerous mushroom
| Characteristic | Blushing wood mushroom | Inky mushroom |
|---|---|---|
| ⚠ Edibility class | Blushing wood mushroom Edible | Inky mushroom Poisonous |
| Season | Blushing wood mushroom SummerAutumn | Inky mushroom SummerAutumn |
| ⚠ Use | Blushing wood mushroom Cook freshDryingPickling | Inky mushroom Not eaten |
| Size | Blushing wood mushroom Medium (5–15 cm) | Inky mushroom Medium (5–15 cm) |
| ⚠ Cap color | Blushing wood mushroom BrownDark brown | Inky mushroom WhiteGreyBrown |
| Cap shape | Blushing wood mushroom Convex | Inky mushroom Convex |
| Cap surface | Blushing wood mushroom Scaly | Inky mushroom Scaly |
| ⚠ Taste | Blushing wood mushroom Mild | Inky mushroom Unknown |
| ⚠ Smell | Blushing wood mushroom PleasantAlmond | Inky mushroom Chemical |
| ⚠ Flesh color change | Blushing wood mushroom Reddening | Inky mushroom Yellowing |
| Hymenophore | Blushing wood mushroom Gilled | Inky mushroom Gilled |
| ⚠ Stem | Blushing wood mushroom Central | Inky mushroom Bulbous |
| Ring (veil) | Blushing wood mushroom Ring present | Inky mushroom Ring present |
| Volva | Blushing wood mushroom No volva | Inky mushroom No volva |
| Substrate | Blushing wood mushroom SoilForest litter | Inky mushroom SoilForest litter |
| Nutrition type | Blushing wood mushroom Saprotroph | Inky mushroom Saprotroph |
| ⚠ Partner trees | Blushing wood mushroom SprucePineFir | Inky mushroom BeechHornbeamOak |
📅 Seasonality
Blushing wood mushroom
Fruiting season
June – November
Inky mushroom
Fruiting season
June – October
🔬 Morphology
Cap
Blushing wood mushroom
Cap 5-12 cm across, hemispherical to egg-shaped when young, becoming convex-flat with age. Color brown to dark brown, with distinct radially arranged dark brown or blackish-brown scales. The center is solid-colored; toward the edge the scales thin out. The surface is dry, not slimy.
Inky mushroom
Cap 5-10 cm across; in young mushrooms hemispherical to conical-convex, later convex with a low umbo. Color whitish to grayish, with distinct, radially arranged small gray-brown or blackish-gray scales — a hallmark of the species (unlike the yellow stainer, whose cap is smooth). When touched, the cap yellows to chrome yellow, like the yellow stainer's.
Hymenophore
Blushing wood mushroom
Gilled hymenophore: gills free, crowded. When young they are pinkish-white, and with age they become dark brown to chocolate-blackish. Spore print dark brown.
Inky mushroom
Gilled hymenophore — the gills are free, crowded. In young mushrooms — pale pink to grayish-pink, with age they become dark brown, chocolate-blackish. Spore print dark brown.
Stem
Blushing wood mushroom
Stem 6-12 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical, slightly thickened at the base. Color white to cream, with fine brownish fibers or scales below the ring. A white membranous ring in the upper part, distinct in young specimens.
Inky mushroom
Stem 5-10 cm tall, 0.8-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical, with a bulbous base. Color white. When cut, the flesh in the lower part of the stem turns bright chrome yellow — just like the yellow stainer, the same diagnostic feature. In the upper part — a white membranous ring.
Flesh
Blushing wood mushroom
Flesh firm, white; when cut it quickly and distinctly turns wine-red, especially in the lower stem. This is the classic protective feature against Amanita. Pleasant mushroomy smell with an almond-anise note.
Inky mushroom
Flesh firm, white, turns bright chrome yellow when damaged, in the lower stem and in the flesh of the bulb. Smell distinct and unpleasant — ink, phenol, pharmacy ointment, creosote.
Smell
Blushing wood mushroom
Pleasant and mushroomy, with an almond-anise note. It does not smell of ink or medicine (that would point to the yellow stainer).
Inky mushroom
Distinctly unpleasant, with notes of ink, phenol and pharmacy ointment — like the yellow stainer. It comes out when you rub the flesh.
📍 Habitats
Blushing wood mushroom
Inky mushroom
👀 Similar mushrooms — don't mix them up!
❓ Frequently asked questions
Can Blushing wood mushroom and Inky mushroom be mixed up?
How to tell Blushing wood mushroom from Inky mushroom?
Which is more dangerous — Blushing wood mushroom or Inky mushroom?
Is Inky mushroom edible?
When do Blushing wood mushroom and Inky mushroom grow?
Sources
- [1]Вікіпедія (українська)
- [2]Атлас грибів України, Зеров Д.К. (1979)
- [3]MycoBank Database
- [4]Index Fungorum
- [5]GBIF
- [6]iNaturalist Ukraine