Conservation Status: Not of concern
Edibility: Little is known concerning the edibility of any of them.
verdigris roundhead, blue-green Stropharia
Little is known concerning the edibility of any of them.
Blue and green mushrooms are rare, so Stropharia aeruginosa and its close look-alike, S. caerulea (often incorrectly called S. cyanea) not only attract attention, but are reasonably easy to recognize. Both have viscid, bluish green caps that fade to yellowish, white stipes, typical purplish brown stropharia spores, and grow in wood chips, other landscape settings, and in disturbed portions of natural habitats such as along forest trailsides. The cap of S. aeruginosa usually is adorned by white veil remnants and tends to, at least partially, retain its blue color. The stipe has a persistent white ring, and usually is somewhat scaly below the ring. S. caerulea differs by its usually incomplete veil, smoother stipe, tendency of the cap to more quickly and more completely fade to yellowish, and the presence of abundant chrysocystidia along the gill edges. Unfortunately, many collections exhibit intermediate characteristics or a mix of characters, making it impossible to decide to which species they belong. Perhaps there is only one variable species, or possibly we have a third undescribed species here.
PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Stropharia aeruginosa in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database
CalPhotos: Stropharia aeruginosa photos