It’s been a wet and humid few weeks in central Ohio, and we now have some unexpected fungal visitors in our front yard. It’s the first time I can remember finding mushrooms in the lawn itself, as opposed to in the shady and damp areas underneath trees and shrubs in our flower beds.
These are two of a number of rapidly growing mushrooms in the yard. Because I know almost nothing about mushrooms, I decided to see whether I could figure out what kind of variety these mushrooms are — and whether they are edible. To my wholly uneducated eye, they look pretty much like the mushrooms you buy at the grocery store.
From my examination of the photos and descriptions on this website, I’m guessing that these are “meadow mushrooms.” They clearly aren’t Morels, Chanterelles, giant puffballs, or “Shaggy manes,” and they don’t have the bumpy caps found in other varieties. According to the website, if these are “meadow mushrooms,” they are edible. The website also helpfully adds, however, that there is “no test or characteristic to distinguish edible from poisonous mushrooms.” Given that mushroom poisoning can be fatal, I’m not going to take a chance on eating these buggers.
Webner House 