St George's mushroom vs Livid pinkgill: how to tell them apart

Both are large creamy mushrooms that smell of flour. The key difference is the spore print: St George's mushroom has a white spore print and appears in spring, while the poisonous livid pinkgill has a pink print and is found in late summer and autumn. Toxic fibrecaps also appear in spring.

Side-by-side comparison

	St George's mushroom Calocybe gambosa	Livid pinkgill Entoloma sinuatum
Safety status	Edible with caution	Poisonous
Cap	Cream to buff, 5–12 cm, fleshy, with an inrolled margin	Grey-cream to ivory, 5–20 cm, smooth and silky, often wavy
Underside	Very crowded, narrow, white to cream gills	Yellowish at first, then salmon-pink gills
Stem	Short, thick, white to cream, no ring	White, stout, no ring
Smell	Strongly of fresh flour or cucumber	Floury or rancid meal
Spore print	White	Pink
Habitat	Grassland, hedgerows and woodland edges, often in rings	Broadleaf woods on chalky and rich soils; often grass near oak and beech
Season	Apr – Jun	Jul – Oct

Photos: User:Strobilomyces, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Archenzo, CC BY-SA 3.0

Quick tests that separate them

1. Spore print: white (St George's) vs pink (livid pinkgill).
2. Gills: crowded, white to cream vs yellowish becoming salmon-pink with age.
3. Season: April to June vs July to October.
4. Pink gills mean do not eat.

Key clues for each

St George's mushroom: Appears around late April to May, in rings on grass. White spore print and crowded white gills: a pink spore print means it is not this species.

Livid pinkgill: Pink spore print and gills that turn flesh-pink with age. The smell is like stale flour.

Frequently asked questions