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Blue Roundhead

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Blue Roundhead

Inedible

Autumn

Winter

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Blue Roundhead, Stropharia caerulea.

Not a poisonous mushroom but can cause gastric upsets.

Mushroom Type
Common Names	Blue Roundhead (EN), Pengrwn Glas (CY), Pierścieniak Niebieskawy (PL), Zöldeskék Harmatgomba (HU)
Scientific Name	Stropharia caerulea
Season Start	Aug
Season End	Dec
Average Mushroom height (CM)	9
Average Cap width (CM)	8

Please note that each and every mushroom you come across may vary in appearance to these photos.

Cap

Convex opening to flattened cone. Green/blue when young turning pale tan/green.

Gills

White turning grey/brown. Not crowded.

Stem

White turning pale blue. Covered in scales.

Skirt

Has a long-lasting white ring, the top surface of which becomes coloured with the brown spores.

Flesh

White/pale blue.

Habitat

Mixed woodland, heath and grassland.

Possible Confusion

The only similar looking mushroom is the Verdigris Agaric (Stropharia aeruginosa), which is rarer and has white edged gills.

Spore Print

Purple/brown. Ellipsoid. The spores should be scrapped into a small pile to get an accurate spore colour.

Frequency

Fairly common.

Other Facts

This mushroom suspected to contains psilocybin and psilocin, powerful hallucinogens. There is a single study back from 1981 which reported these substances from the fruit body of S. caerulea, but it seems to be just a mistake, because none of the later analytical studies were able to find any of these even in traces.
This mushroom will also cause gastric upsets so is not a safe mushroom for consumption.

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11 responses to “Blue Roundhead”

Carol Barac

October 9, 2019

I have found these in my garden, should I report them?

Yage

November 2, 2020

For trespassing in their natural habitat?

Chris

December 1, 2020

Hahaha, you should pick them and make spore prints. Perhaps you could do something else with them if you so chose….

But thats a hilarious comment haha, call the authorities some mushrooms are growing hahahahahaha so funny 🤣

My size Baby cakes

January 20, 2021

Please could you Send them my way please it would be much appreciate for mycology purposes of course x kind regards T

1. Sam
  
  October 11, 2021
  
  Hey can we make contact
  
Heather

November 23, 2022

Hi I found this mushroom on my allotment it is blue / green in colour and slimy is it a bad one

1. Eric Biggane
  
  November 25, 2022
  
  It could be a Blue Roundhead but we would need to see photos of the cap, stem and gills to be sure.
  
Jackie Hammond

May 17, 2024

Cortinaius Rotunisporus are growing in Port Stephens on the East Coast. Report of blue wide tops after rain for over two week .

1. Attila Fodi
  
  May 17, 2024
  
  Hi Jackie,
  Thank you for your comment. We are a UK-based company, and we don’t really have much information about Australian and New Zealand fungi. Cortinarius rotundisporus is native to Australia, but documented from New Zealand too, and it is mycorrhizal with Eucalyptus and Leptospermum species, so you can separate the two species by their habitat. When we mention potential lookalikes, they are mostly from the UK or from other parts of Europe (in case of polypores I might have more information about lookalikes from different continents, so I might add them in our online Mushroom Guide). Anyway, thank you for the info, it is indeed a beautiful blue mushroom.
  
Luke

October 8, 2024

Can you eat these to hallucinate

1. Eric Biggane
  
  October 9, 2024
  
  There are reports from the US that this mushroom contains psilocybin and psilocyn but reseach from Europe shows no detectable amounts of either. This mushroom can cause gastric upsets if eaten so we don’t recommend trying them.