Habitat & Distribution: Common amongst short grass on lawns, in pastures, on grass-verges, etc., from May until October.
Plate 39. Fleshy fungi: Spores purple-brown and born on gills
![[Larger illustration]](#467779198995390083_illo125lg.png.id-5530622889237105183.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
General Information: P. foenisecii is recognised under the microscope by the ornamented spores; this character was used to separate this fungus in the new genus Panaeolina. However, although the spore-print is not exactly black the stature, mottled gills and anatomy conform closely with Panaeolus sphinctrinus (Fries) Quélet and P. rickenii Hora (see [p. 210] and below respectively). The same fungus has been placed in Psilocybe (see [p. 114]), but it has little in common with members of that genus. The word ‘foenisecii’ means hay-harvest, reflecting the habitat of growing in fields. This fungus is variable in colour depending on its state of turgidity; it can be easily confused with other species of Panaeolus when moist and with certain species of Conocybe when dry. P. rickenii is an equally common agaric growing on similar or slightly less base-rich soil-types. It has a distinctly bell-shaped reddish brown cap with a pale incurved margin which in wet weather is, like the entire stem, beaded with droplets of liquid. This gives the fungus a glistening appearance when seen fresh and as it dries these droplets are lost and the cap becomes slightly zoned. The stem is pale reddish-brown with a strong frosted appearance because of the minute hairs which cover it. I have no doubt that the classification of these fungi will be assisted by careful analysis of the shapes of the hairs found in the different species.
Illustrations: Panaeolina foenisecii—LH 145; WD 784. Panaeolus rickenii—LH 145.
(f) Agarics of wasteland and hedgerows
Coprinus comatus (Fries) S. F. Gray Lawyer’s wig
Cap: width 30-60 mm; height 80-200 mm. Stem: width 10-20 mm; length 80-250 mm.
Description: [Plate 40].