Herb. No. 118 · Agaricaceae
The cultivated Agaricus of European fields, now a compost crop in every supermarket.
Native · Europe
Native Also grownNow a garden plant worldwide
LegalGentlefungus
Button mushroom
Agaricus bisporus
Medicinal fungiKitchenHarvestLookalikes
The same fungus three times — button, cremini, portobello — a kitchen mushroom you can grow on a block.
Agaricus bisporus is the white button, the brown cremini, and the open portobello. Traditional food, not a tonic conk. Grow it on composted substrate from a kit or a known spawn. Wild Agaricus includes both good eating and the yellow-staining species that upset the gut. This plate is the cultivated one.
Flavor
Mild, earthy; browns are deeper; portobello is steak-mushroom when roasted.
Parts used
Fruiting body
Helpful
- The most grown food mushroom on earth
- A kit works
Cautions
- Wild cousins can fool you
- Raw in huge amounts is harder to digest
Do not confuse
- Fly agaricA white or orange cap in grass is not Agaricus. Fly agaric and its deadly cousins still get eaten by people who trusted a photograph.
- Psilocybe mushroomsLittle brown mushrooms are a legal and medical problem, not a pizza topping. This catalog will name them for education. It will not tell you to eat them.