{"id":34528,"date":"2022-01-12T16:27:57","date_gmt":"2022-01-12T16:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/?p=34528"},"modified":"2026-01-29T13:31:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T13:31:29","slug":"pavement-mushroom-agaricus-bitorquis-identification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/2022\/01\/12\/pavement-mushroom-agaricus-bitorquis-identification\/","title":{"rendered":"Pavement Mushroom (Agaricus Bitorquis) Identification"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><strong>Pavement Mushroom \/ Spring \/ Summer \/ Autumn \/ Edible<\/strong><\/h1>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-34528 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-medium'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/2022\/01\/12\/pavement-mushroom-agaricus-bitorquis-identification\/pavement-mushroom-pushing-through-tarmac\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-pushing-through-tarmac-300x225.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-pushing-through-tarmac-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-pushing-through-tarmac-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-pushing-through-tarmac.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/2022\/01\/12\/pavement-mushroom-agaricus-bitorquis-identification\/pavement-mushroom-sliced-showing-the-red-flesh\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-sliced-showing-the-red-flesh-300x200.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-34531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-sliced-showing-the-red-flesh-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-sliced-showing-the-red-flesh-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-sliced-showing-the-red-flesh.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-34531'>\n\t\t\t\tJason Hollinger, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/2022\/01\/12\/pavement-mushroom-agaricus-bitorquis-identification\/pavement-mushroom-from-above-pushing-through-compacted-soil\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"213\" src=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-from-above-pushing-through-compacted-soil-300x213.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-34529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-from-above-pushing-through-compacted-soil-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-from-above-pushing-through-compacted-soil-150x106.jpg 150w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-from-above-pushing-through-compacted-soil.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-34529'>\n\t\t\t\t\u0418\u0433\u043e\u0440\u044c \u041b\u0435\u0431\u0435\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/2022\/01\/12\/pavement-mushroom-agaricus-bitorquis-identification\/pavement-mushroom-1\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-1-225x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-1-113x150.jpg 113w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-1.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/2022\/01\/12\/pavement-mushroom-agaricus-bitorquis-identification\/pavement-mushroom-stem-and-gills-1\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-stem-and-gills-1-225x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-stem-and-gills-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-stem-and-gills-1-113x150.jpg 113w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-stem-and-gills-1.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/2022\/01\/12\/pavement-mushroom-agaricus-bitorquis-identification\/pavement-mushroom-in-hand-1\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-in-hand-1-225x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-in-hand-1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-in-hand-1-113x150.jpg 113w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-in-hand-1.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>The Pavement Mushroom is an edible member of the Agaric family. Not overly common in the UK but where they do occur they can sometimes be found in large quantities.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Scientific Name<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Agaricus bitorquis<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Common Names<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Pavement Mushroom, Banded Agaric, Spring Agaric<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Family<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Agaricaceae<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Habitat<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>They are saprotrophic and can be found at the sides of roads, paths and as the name suggests pavements. They have the strength to lift paving stones or push their way through tarmac.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Description\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>An edible member of the Agaric family. Not overly common in the UK but where they do occur they can sometimes be found in large quantities.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Identifying Features:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Cap:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Convex when young they flatten out with age. They are white to tan in colour but are very often covered in soil and dirt. The flesh will stain slightly pink when damaged.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_34529\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34529\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-34529\" src=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-from-above-pushing-through-compacted-soil-300x213.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-from-above-pushing-through-compacted-soil-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-from-above-pushing-through-compacted-soil-150x106.jpg 150w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-from-above-pushing-through-compacted-soil.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34529\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u0418\u0433\u043e\u0440\u044c \u041b\u0435\u0431\u0435\u0434\u0438\u043d\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439, CC BY 3.0 &lt;https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Stem:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>A similar colour to the caps, they become more bulbous at the base and have a double ring. The top of the ring is funnel shaped and the lower half looks like a skirt.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_34530\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34530\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-34530\" src=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-nice-shot-of-ring-and-mature-gills-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-nice-shot-of-ring-and-mature-gills-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-nice-shot-of-ring-and-mature-gills-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pavement-mushroom-nice-shot-of-ring-and-mature-gills.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34530\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hans5560, CC BY-SA 4.0 &lt;https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Gills:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The gills are white when young, turning pink and then brown with age, fairly crowded and free from the stem.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_29468\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29468\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-29468\" src=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Free-Gills-Attachment-Mushroom.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Free-Gills-Attachment-Mushroom.png 300w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Free-Gills-Attachment-Mushroom-100x100.png 100w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Free-Gills-Attachment-Mushroom-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-29468\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Free Gills<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Smell:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Mushroomy.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Spores:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Chocolate brown.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Known hazards\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>They can bio-accumulate heavy metals and toxins so care needs to be taken and they should only be harvested from unpolluted sites.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Potential lookalikes<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Other Agaricus species do look similar, most are edible but care needs to be taken to avoid the toxic Y<a href=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/2018\/12\/19\/yellow-stainer-mushroom-foraging\/\">ellow Stainer (Agaricus xanthodermus)<\/a> The Yellow Stainer as the name suggests stains yellow when it is damaged and smells like iodine<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Uses<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>In food<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>They have a lovely mushroomy flavour similar to store bought mushrooms and they work well in most dishes. But they are often infected with maggots and due to where they grow they need quite a bit of cleaning.<\/p>\n<p>They must be thoroughly cooked before consumption.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_34531\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-34531\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-34531\" src=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-sliced-showing-the-red-flesh-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-sliced-showing-the-red-flesh-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-sliced-showing-the-red-flesh-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-sliced-showing-the-red-flesh.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-34531\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jason Hollinger, CC BY 2.0 &lt;https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr \/>\n<h2><strong>Extra Notes from the foragers<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Nutritional analysis has shown that the Pavement Mushroom contains 18 amino acids, including all of the essential ones.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-34532\" src=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-pushing-through-tarmac-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-pushing-through-tarmac-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-pushing-through-tarmac-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pavement-mushroom-pushing-through-tarmac.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pavement Mushroom \/ Spring \/ Summer \/ Autumn \/ Edible The Pavement Mushroom is an edible member of the Agaric family. Not overly common in the UK but where they do occur they can sometimes be found in large quantities. Scientific Name Agaricus bitorquis Common Names Pavement Mushroom, Banded Agaric,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":34533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[114,1778,1780,88,1776,1777],"tags":[681,116,239,826,152,389,113,383,824,104,827,238],"class_list":["post-34528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mushroom-identification","category-autumn","category-edible","category-mushrooms","category-spring","category-summer","tag-agaricaceae","tag-agaricus","tag-autumn","tag-banded-agaric","tag-edible","tag-fungi","tag-mushroom","tag-mushrooms","tag-pavement-mushroom","tag-spring","tag-spring-agaric","tag-summer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34528"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142608,"href":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34528\/revisions\/142608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totallywilduk.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}