Mushrooms (genus Agaricus) are gill fungi (order Agaricales) with dark spores. They rot away forest debris.
Most Agaricus mushroom species grow in habitats with culturally significant natural diversity. These mushrooms are often found in urban gardens, parks, lawns and groves with culturally significant natural diversity.
Most species are white, but brown species and species with dark scales are also found.
Most Agaricus species are excellent edible mushrooms. However, they easily collect heavy metals from the environment and often grow in polluted areas, meaning that you must select the place where you want to pick mushrooms for food very carefully.
The prince
The smell of this mushroom is very pleasant, nutty. Its flavour is strong and also clearly nutty.
The prince (Agaricus augustus), kungschampinjon in Swedish, is one of the largest Agaricus species in Finland. Its beautiful yellowish brown scales make it a royal sight to behold.
The prince grows in soil rich in humus and nutrients in gardens, parks and groves in southern Finland.
The species is southern and can be found less and less frequently going north. It has, however, been found as high up north as Kainuu. The cap of the young prince is hemispherical and 7–25 cm wide for quite a long time. As the prince ages, however, the cap becomes wider and straw-coloured – and then yellowish brown and yellowish brown-scaled. The gills are not attached to the stem and they are light at first, then turn reddish and finally black-brown. The stem is ringed and 10–20 cm tall. The ring is large, white, hanging and has yellow scales on the bottom.