Mycoscout How to identify a green-spored parasol
This is the big white mushroom that appears in lawns, parks and pastures after summer rain, often in arcs or complete fairy rings. The University of Florida IFAS Extension calls it the most common cause of mushroom poisoning in the United States, citing Lehmann (1992); the North American Mycological Association (NAMA) calls it the most common mushroom cause of human poisonings in North America. People eat it because the young buttons look like a shop mushroom and the mature caps look like the edible parasol. The one feature that is unmistakable in a mature specimen is the colour of the spores: green.
| Feature | Green-spored parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites) |
|---|---|
| Cap | 10–22 cm (MushroomExpert.com); 2–12 in (MDC); up to 30 cm (Queensland). Round and white when young, flattening with age. Surface breaks into beige, cinnamon or pinkish-brown scales over a white background, densest at the brown centre. |
| Gills / underside | Free from the stem, broad, crowded. White when young, turning grey-green to greenish brown as the spores ripen. |
| Stem & base | 8–20 cm long, 1.5–3 cm thick (MushroomExpert.com), slightly swollen at the base, white to brownish, bruising brown when handled. A thick, persistent, movable white ring with a greenish or brownish lower edge, "like a napkin ring" (MDC). |
| Flesh | White, firm; unchanging or staining slowly reddish to brownish, mainly at the base. |
| Spore print | Green: dull grey-green to green. A rare colour among mushrooms (University of Florida). |
| Smell | Not distinctive; "mushroomy" (Queensland). |
| Habitat | Lawns, pastures, meadows, fields, garden beds and open woods; alone, in troops, or in fairy rings. |
| Season | Summer and fall across most of the US (MDC: July–September in Missouri); April to November in Florida. Spring, summer and autumn in Australia. Fruits after rain. |
| Range | Widely distributed in North America, most common from the Great Plains eastward and in the Southeast; also the tropics, Central and South America and Australia. The sources we checked do not document it as established in the UK or northern Europe. |
Confirm these features
- Take a spore print: cut off a mature cap, lay it gills-down on white paper under a bowl for several hours. Green print = green-spored parasol.
- Gills of a mature, open cap grey-green to greenish brown, not white, cream, pink, brown or black.
- Large white cap with brown to pinkish-brown scales, brown and smooth at the centre.
- A thick, movable ring on the stem, not a sac or cup at the base.
- Stem smooth or finely fibrous and white to brownish, without the snakeskin bands of the edible parasol.
- Growing from soil in grass, often in a ring, not on wood.
Why one feature is never enough: a young green-spored parasol has white gills and, as MushroomExpert.com puts it, can be nearly inseparable from the shaggy parasol until the spores mature. White gills on a lawn mushroom do not clear it. Wait for a mature cap and take the print, or leave it.
Dangerous look-alikes
The green-spored parasol is the poisonous one; these are the edible and deadly species it gets confused with.
Parasol (Macrolepiota procera)
Tell apart: the parasol has a white spore print and white to cream gills at every age, a tall slender stem with a brown snakeskin pattern, and a double-edged ring that slides up and down. MDC describes its stalk as tall, slender and scaly. Full comparison on parasol vs false parasol.
Risk: the risk runs the other way: eating a green-spored parasol you took for a parasol. The University of Florida names exactly this confusion as the usual cause.
Shaggy parasol (Chlorophyllum rhacodes)
Tell apart: white spore print, coarser reflexed scales, and flesh that stains pinkish-orange to red when cut. MushroomExpert.com separates it from the green-spored parasol only by the greenish mature gills and print of the latter.
Risk: First Nature reports serious illness in some people from the shaggy parasol itself. Another reason the whole group needs a spore print.
Thiers' amanita (Amanita thiersii) and other white Amanitas
Tell apart: MushroomExpert.com notes that Amanita thiersii also forms fairy rings in lawns east of the Rockies, with a shaggy stem to match its shaggy cap and gills that stay white; MDC gives it a white spore print. Deadly white Amanitas such as the destroying angel have a sac-like volva at the base and a white print.
Risk: deadly for the destroying angel. A lawn mushroom with white gills, a ring and a white print is a different and more dangerous problem than this page covers; see mushrooms in the lawn.
Field mushrooms (Agaricus species)
Tell apart: gills pink then chocolate brown; spore print dark brown (MDC). Never green.
Risk: some Agaricus species, such as the yellow stainer, cause stomach upsets of their own.
Where and when it grows
The green-spored parasol is a saprobe of grassland. In the US it is one of the largest and most common lawn mushrooms of the Southeast, particularly Florida, where the University of Florida records it from about April to November, and it is widely distributed from the Great Plains eastward (MushroomExpert.com), less common in the northern states. MDC lists it statewide in Missouri in lawns, pastures and fields from July to September. It fruits after rain, singly or in rings and arcs that return in the same place as the underground fungus spreads. The Queensland Poisons Information Centre calls it very common in lawns and garden beds in wet periods of spring, summer and autumn. The sources we checked describe it from North America, Australia and the tropics; we found no reputable source documenting it as a regular find in the UK or northern Europe, where the look-alike parasol and shaggy parasol are the common lawn-edge species.
Symptoms and why the delay matters
The toxin is a gastrointestinal irritant present in every part of the mushroom, most concentrated in the cap (University of Florida). Symptoms are evident 1 to 2 hours after eating according to the University of Florida, within 30 minutes to two hours according to Queensland, and within 20 minutes to 4 hours in NAMA's general figure for gastrointestinal irritants. They include nausea, severe vomiting and diarrhea, sometimes with blood, abdominal pain, chills and cold sweats, and the loss of fluid and electrolytes that follows. In severe cases that fluid loss leads to low blood pressure and hypovolemic shock. Symptoms can last from 4 hours to 7 days; most people recover within 24 hours. Queensland reports that symptoms are particularly severe when the mushroom is eaten raw.
The University of Florida states it is not fatally poisonous like some other species, but it notes that dogs and young children are at higher risk because of their smaller size. The action is the same in every source: seek urgent medical attention for any ingestion, and keep the uneaten parts, because greenish spores in the vomit help the diagnosis.
Young children and dogs are at higher risk than adults because they are smaller and more likely to eat fresh mushrooms from the lawn (University of Florida). Pet Poison Helpline says to contact a vet or an animal poison line immediately if you see your dog eat a mushroom; the dog ate a mushroom guide covers what to bring. The fast onset is the one reassuring thing about this species. A lawn mushroom that causes no symptoms for 6 to 24 hours and then starts is a far worse sign, because that delay is the pattern of the deadly Amanitas.
Using an app to check a find
A photo can show an app the scaly white cap, the ring and the fairy ring in the lawn. It cannot show the spore print colour, and on a young specimen it cannot show green gills because they are still white. Mycoscout leads with the edibility verdict, shows its confidence, and lists the look-alikes to rule out, such as the parasol and shaggy parasol, so you know a spore print is the next step. It is a field companion, not a clearance to eat. If your question is whether to let children or a dog back on the lawn, the practical answer is to pick and bin what is there and watch for the next flush after rain.
Frequently asked questions
Is the green-spored parasol safe to touch?
None of the sources we checked reports harm from handling it; the toxin described by the University of Florida acts when the mushroom is eaten. Pick it with your hands if you want it out of the lawn, wash your hands afterward, and keep pieces away from children and dogs, who are the usual victims.
Is the green-spored parasol poisonous to dogs?
Yes. The University of Florida reports that the toxin affects dogs and that dogs and young children are at higher risk because of their smaller size; the Animal Poisons Helpline describes severe gastroenteritis with significant fluid loss in dogs. If your dog ate one, call your vet or an animal poison line now, even if the dog seems well.
How do I get rid of green-spored parasols in my lawn?
The mushrooms are the fruit of a fungus living in the soil, which is why they come back in the same ring each wet spell (University of Florida). Picking and binning the mushrooms removes the immediate risk to children and pets; the Animal Poisons Helpline recommends removing them before pets can reach them. No source we checked describes a treatment that removes the underground fungus.
Green-spored parasol vs parasol: how do I tell them apart?
Take a spore print. The green-spored parasol's print is green and its mature gills turn grey-green; the edible parasol's print is white, its gills stay white to cream, and its stem has a snakeskin pattern. Young green-spored parasols have white gills, so the print is the only reliable test.
Sources
How we checked this page: the Mycoscout team cross-checked every edibility, toxicity and look-alike statement against the sources below on October 31, 2026. It has not been reviewed by a mycologist.
- The Green-Spore Poison Parasol Mushroom, Chlorophyllum molybdites (PP324), University of Florida IFAS Extension. Accessed October 31, 2026.
- Green-spored parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites), Queensland Poisons Information Centre. Accessed October 31, 2026.
- Green-Spored Lepiota (Chlorophyllum molybdites), Missouri Department of Conservation. Accessed October 31, 2026.
- Chlorophyllum molybdites, MushroomExpert.com (Michael Kuo). Accessed October 31, 2026.
- Mushroom poisoning syndromes, North American Mycological Association. Accessed October 31, 2026.
- Mushroom poisoning safety guide, Animal Poisons Helpline (Australia and New Zealand). Accessed October 31, 2026.
- Mushrooms (toxicity in pets), Pet Poison Helpline. Accessed October 31, 2026.
