what fungi is this

Well I can't i.d. from the pix so wouldn't advise you to eat... other than that just enjoy it.

I'd get a plastic bag, put it over your hand, then over the toadstool and twist it off in case its one that spreads wind borne spores. Doesn't look like any of the edible mushrooms. don't know why its grown there, but the appearance of the surface soil in the pot suggests to me that perhaps the plant needs potting on! Or turning out, splitting and repotting in fresh compost - and check the drainage in the pot at the same time. It looks also as if you have some dead bamboo stems in there - this might be why you've got the fruiting body of a fungi; it's there to break down the dead wood.

Moongrower, are you meaning to say eat it? Or that you wouldn't eat?

Thanks for spotting that Bamboo - definitely wouldn't eat!

Thank you Bamboo. You are correct that the plant needs repotting and it is in the dampest part of the garden. I will split it, but have to keep it in pots as i have a small garden. I have tried to find a name for the toadstool, but not seen anything like it online, and thanks Moongrower, I thought that you meant NOT to eat it.

It's almost impossible to ID a mushroom without knowing what the gills are like and better still what colour spores it drops.

A quick flip through Roger Phillips Mushrooms and other fungi of GB and Europe produces at least five possibilities.

Where did the moss come from? The fungus could have come in on that or simply lain dormant for years till the conditions were right for it. I welcome all fungi into my garden because I find them completely fascinating. Living in the Czech Republic is ideal for me - mushroom collecting is the national hobby :-)

The plastic bag is probably not essential, even if the mushroom is poisonous, just hand-washing after handling an unknown one is enough. The spores will spread by dropping, not via the wind.

thanks Cestina, i have changed the photo to show the underside of the toadstool! the pot has only had multipurpose compost, but it's in a very damp area, which has caused the moss!

The bag is simply to stop the spores from dropping or blowing as you rip it out of the soil, Cestina. And the "moss" looks more like lichen to me, which tends to grow on top of potted plants which have been in the same pot for ages and left entirely undisturbed.

Yes Bamboo, I think you're right that it is more like lichen, and it has been left undisturbed for years!!!

That is a much better pix of the fungus - definitely not edible as it has whitish gills

but some edibles do have white gills mg, or at least the ones served to use during the holiday had :o)

SB the general rule with fungi is unless you can positively i.d. - which I can't - anything with pale gills is likely to be toxic.
All the field mushrooms, ceps and blewits have brown or dark coloured gills.I can i.d. a puffball from and earthball but, I'd rather pass by a fungus that 'might' be edible than end up in A & E being stomach pumped.
Seriously this happened to the local laird (lord of the manor) his sister and brother in law (author of the book 'The Horse Wisperer') went off collecting fungi and picked something they 'thought' was edible... it was cooked eaten by all four of them and Alasdair (the laird) is now on dialysis as his kidneys were shot to hell; not sure about the other three.
The moral is unless you are completely sure do not pick and eat wild fungi!

i only eat a few wild ones anyway, as i have been taught which i could eat locally. it just sounded as if you meant all white gilled ones were poisonous. but i agree if in doubt dont.

SB which white gilled fungus do you know that is edible?

Nice picture Oap but I still wouldn't like to hazard a guess. Interestingly on my screen the gills look dark grey and as if they might drop darkish spores.

Quite agree about not eating unless you are absolutely certain - we were taught to identify using all our senses bar hearing, sight, touch, smell and even a tiny taste if you know what you are doing. Fungi are masters of disguise and can look very different depending on their stage of development and where they are growing.

I go out regularly now with someone very expert - she eats the Blusher - Amanita Rubescens which is an "edible excellent". I still won't touch it - too easily confused with other highly poisonous Amanitas.

Wow I wouldn't touch Amanitas with a barge pole - scared I'd make a wrong i.d.!

I've no idea what it was but its gills were white and the cap was yellow. tasted nutty and was delish.

Field bluewitt has white gills and the aniseed toadstool has white gills with a greenish tinge

All the Wood blewits I've read about and seen had blue caps and gills the Field blewit has a creamy brown cap. I'd always thought that Aniseed toadstool (Clitocybe odora) was toxic - probably because I'd read not to pick the immature specimens as can be mistaken for verdigris agaric (Stropharia aeruginosa) which is toxic. Think I'll stick to the ones I KNOW I can i.d. correctly. Even when we've picked them we get the book out once home to be absolutely certain.

I never chance any of them - the Aniseed toadstool is fine once cooked, but many people have allergic reactions to it, apparently, and I'm neither curious nor desperate enough to eat fungi that I'll chance it...

ah but chantrelles, puff balls, ceps and a few others I can positively i.d. then I'm a very happy girl. We once picked a puff ball the size of rugby ball in perfect condition! Sliced and lightly fried it was almost like eating fillet steak!

You're a braver man than I, gunga din...

Ah well... my parents used to take me out picking fungi as a kid so it is sort of in the blood.