Mushrooms in the Greenhouses!

A few weeks ago, during the CFSA Farm Tour, many visitors who toured our greenhouses took special interest in the bright yellow mushrooms that appeared in a handful of our beds throughout. I had seen these in plentitude before, but only a few throughout this summer. It seemed that the rain we'd gotten on the Friday right before the tour spurred on their growth, and it seemed they'd popped up everywhere! And ever since, they've been regular visitors in my raised beds.

Most people were entranced by these, and asked me repeatedly what they were, and if they were edible. Since they'd not ever seemed to do any damage to the plants, and their life span was fairly quick, I'd pretty much ignored them until my visitors took so much interest -- I HATED not having the answers for them!

So, here we go: I've identified the specimen as lepiota lutea, or leucocoprinus birnbaumii (see photos and more detailed descriptions at these two sites: http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/feb2002.html, http://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/species/Leucocoprinus_birnbaumii.html). They are very common in greenhouses, and show up frequently in potted plants. As for edibility -- I wouldn't eat them! Though not outright poisonous, they are known to cause intestinal upset.

And, as I had originally suspected, these mushrooms are not dangerous to the plants in their living space... so, since they are actually sort of cool looking, and add color to the landscape, I think I'll just leave them be, for now... I typically only see a few clumps here and there, and since they're most common in late summer and early fall, I'll let them live out their life cycle in peace!