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Leucoagaricus americanus
Urban mushroom on wood chips.
The fourth picture is absolutely amazing. You took some great shots of a great mushroom, thanks for sharing!
Very true! Kit Scates put together a chart to help identify mushrooms to genus which was very helpful, but frankly I think many species remain unnamed. I took a couple of dozen mushrooms to a great expert once (Smith) and he could only identify about 2/3 of them, and those pretty much only to genus. Chemistry and microscopy is necessary for many,.
Thanks LarsKorb. If only there there was an easier way to id mushrooms... it is hard!
Thanks I agree they look kind of childish :) I've got three fungi guides sitting on my desk and still cannot figure this out. As I was taking these pictures a person (probably a professor at the Univ of Pittsburgh, where the picture was taken) started talking to me, he obviously knew a lot about fungi. Silly me, forgot to ask for the ID.
I'm making a guess at the genus. Someone knowing the mushrooms of your area should be able to recognize this unique-looking mushroom.