Leucocoprinus birnbaumii (Plantpot Dapperling)

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A mushroom in shades of yellow, usually bright (though with gills paler). The cap may be up to 6 centimetres in diameter, with a striate margin and may have a brownish centre. A partial veil is present in young specimens and this remains as a ring on the stem, after the cap has expanded. The stem has a slightly bulbous base Cap and stem are dry, with a covering of granules or scales – but these may disappear with age.

Spore print: white:

Widespread in the world’s tropics and sub-tropics. In Canberra it turns up in glasshouses or growing with indoor plants, often gregariously. I remember one year when several hundred appeared in a glasshouse at the botanic gardens in Canberra.

Look-alikes

This should not be confused with anything else. Leucocoprinus fragilissimus is another cosmopolitan species which has been reported from Australia. It is much more delicate (and said to very fragile)e somewhat like like a Coprinellus or Parasola in appearance and with white gills.

Leucocoprinus birnbaumii is listed in the following regions: