Plant Guide > Mushrooms > Genus Lepiota

Genus Lepiota

GENUS LEPIOTA

The members of this genus have the gills free from the stem, and have no wrapper remains at the base of the stem. In some species the cap or pileus has the surface scaly, owing to the rupture of the fibres which compose it.

It is this feature which has suggested the name Lepiota, from the Latin word lepis-a scale. There are about thirty species represented in the United States, of which a few are commonly eaten.

Lepiota Friesii
Lepiota Naucinoides
Lepiota Procera