Macrolepiota procera (Scop. ex Fr.) Sing. syn. Lepiota procera (Scop. ex Fr.) S.F. Gray syn. Leucocoprinus procerus (Scop. ex Fr.) Pat. Lépiote élevée, Coulemelle, Riesenschirmpilz, Parasol. Cap 10–25cm across, button spherical or egg-shaped expanding flattened with a prominent umbo, pale buff or grey-brown covered in darker shaggy scales. Stem 150–300 x 8–15mm, 40mm at the bulb, white, with a grey-brown felty covering which becomes split into snake-like markings as the stem expands; ring large, double, white on upper surface, brown below, movable on the stem. Flesh thin, soft, white. Taste sweet, smell slight, indistinctive. Gills free, white. Spore print white. Spores ovate with a germ-pore, dextrinoid, 15–20 x 10–13um. Habitat in open woods and pastures. Season summer and autumn. Uncommon. Edible – excellent. Distribution, America and Europe. Note the American form of this fungus is rather more delicate in form than the more robust European variety. The third photograph was taken by Geoffrey Kibby.