Appearance
Fruit bodies of ''Leucocoprinus birnbaumii'' are agaricoid and occur singly or in small clumps. All parts are bright, pale sulphur-yellow, but fade with age. When young, the cap is usually taller than broad, later becoming convex and around 20–60 mm across. The cap surface is smooth but dotted with fine, easily detached scales, and often develops shallow, radial grooves near the margin. The gills are free and are covered by a partial veil when young, which ruptures to leave a fragile, evanescent ring on the stem. Microscopically, the species is distinguished by its thick-walled, ellipsoid spores that are dextrinoid, have a germ pore, and measure around 8–12 by 5–9 μm.
Naming
In the UK, ''Leucocoprinus birnbaumii'' has been given the recommended common name of "plantpot dapperling". In North America, it has also been called the "yellow parasol", "flowerpot parasol", "yellow houseplant mushroom", "lemon-yellow lepiota", or "yellow pleated parasol".''Leucocoprinus straminellus'' is a similar, slightly paler species that may also occasionally appear in hothouses and plantpots in temperate regions. It is best distinguished microscopically by its smaller spores that lack a germ pore. ''Leucocoprinus flavescens'', described from North America, is also small-spored and has a yellowish cap with a brownish centre. ''Leucocoprinus sulphurellus'' is a yellow species that occurs in the Caribbean area, but has gills that bruise bright blue-green.
Habitat
Like all ''Leucocoprinus'' species, ''L. birnbaumii'' is a saprotroph, living on very decayed plant matter . The fungus is common throughout the tropics and subtropics, extending into warmer parts of the temperate zones. Rarely, it appears in cooler areas, fruit bodies having been recorded as far north as England, but these seem to be temporary introductions. In these areas it is more usually found in hothouses and plant pots than in the wild.
Defense
Fruit bodies of ''Leucocoprinus birnbaumii'' are poisonous if consumed, causing significant stomach problems.The yellow pigment in the fruit bodies comes from novel alkaloid compounds that have been dubbed "birnbaumins".
References:
Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.
