Agaricus

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Agaricus

Image:Agaricus xanthodermus.jpg
Poisonous A. xanthodermus

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Homobasidiomycetes
Subclass:	Homobasidiomycetidae
Order:	Agaricales
Family:	Agaricaceae
Genus:	Agaricus

Species

Agaricus is a large and important genus of mushrooms containing both edible and poisonous species, some of which may be difficult to distinguish. The genus includes the button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), the dominant cultivated mushroom of the West.

Members of Agaricus are characterized by having a fleshy cap or pileus, from the underside of which grow a number of radiating plates or gills on which are produced the naked spores. They are distinguished from other members of their family, Agaricaceae, by their chocolate-brown spores. Members of Agaricus also have a stem or stipe, which elevates the pileus above the object on which the mushroom grows, and a partial veil, which protects the developing gills and later forms a ring or annulus on the stalk.