How to tell Wood mushroom from Yellow stainer

The cap of the wood mushroom reaches 5 to 12, occasionally up to 15 centimeters across. When young it is hemispherical or bell-shaped, and with age it opens out to convex and almost flat. The surface is smooth, silky-fibrous, dry, pure white, cream or with a faint ocher tinge; it slowly turns yellow when touched or with age, especially at the margin. Yellowing on touch is an important diagnostic feature.

Cap 5-15 cm across; in young mushrooms firmly hemispherical to squared-off (a characteristic feature — the "square" young cap), later becoming convex to flat. Color white to cream, sometimes grayish-brown in the center. The most characteristic sign — touching the cap or its margin leaves bright chrome-yellow spots, especially noticeable in young mushrooms. The surface is smooth, slightly sticky in wet weather.

The underside has gills. The gills are free, not attached to the stem, and very crowded. Their color changes with age: in young mushrooms they are pale pink or grayish pink, later darkening to chocolate brown and almost black. The spore print is dark brown. It's the pink, not white, color of the young gills that reliably separates Agaricus from the deadly poisonous amanitas, whose gills are always white.

Gilled hymenophore — gills free, crowded. When young — pale pinkish-gray, becoming with age dark brown, chocolate-blackish. Spore print dark brown. The gill color is typical of Agaricus — it doesn't help tell the yellow stainer apart.

The stem is cylindrical, 5 to 12 centimeters tall, white, with a noticeably thickened, sometimes almost bulbous base. Its defining feature is a large, hanging, double-layered ring near the top, left behind when the veil tears. The stem may also turn yellow when touched. Agaricus has no volva, the sac-like structure at the base typical of poisonous amanitas; this is the key difference.

Stem 5-12 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical, with a pronounced bulbous base (a difference from other Agaricus species, whose stems are more even). Color white. The most important diagnostic sign: when cut, the flesh at the base of the stem and in the bulb is bright chrome yellow, often almost neon, and the reaction is fast (10-30 seconds). On the upper part — a white membranous ring, distinct in young mushrooms.

The flesh is white, fairly thin, and slowly turns yellow when cut, especially at the base of the stem. The taste is mild and pleasant, with no bitterness. Its main hallmark is a distinct sweetish aroma of anise or bitter almond, which sets this species apart from its unpleasant-smelling yellow-staining lookalike.

Flesh firm, white in the cap and upper stem, bright yellow at the base of the stem even when undamaged. When cut, THE BASE OF THE STEM TURNS BRIGHT CHROME YELLOW — the main diagnostic sign. The cap yellows too, but more weakly. The smell is distinct and unpleasant — ink, phenol, medicinal ointment, creosote.

The smell is pleasant, sweetish, of anise and almond, one of the defining features of the species. If, however, the mushroom smells of ink, carbolic or a pharmacy, and the base of the stem turns bright yellow when cut, you are looking at the poisonous yellow stainer (Agaricus xanthodermus), and you must not pick it.

Distinct and unpleasant, with notes of ink, phenol, medicinal ointment, creosote, printer's ink. It comes out when you rub the flesh between your fingers, especially at the base of the stem. This smell is the most reliable sign: no edible Agaricus smells like this.