CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Colorful leaves aren’t the only attraction in many yards and parks this time of year.
There’s a wide range in what kinds of mushrooms grow here so Greg Mueller, chief scientist at the Chicago Botanic Garden, said you should know what you’re dealing with.
"The white mushroom, it looks like the deadly Amanita. It's not that one but it's enough that people need to pause and look at it. And it is like on every lawn almost this year. It's everywhere," Mueller told WBBM Newsradio, adding he doesn’t know why the mushrooms are “so abundant” this year.
In his position, Mueller will help people identify the fungus in their yard within limits.
He credited the dry summer followed by wet fall for the fungus abundance but said it’s unpredictable which kinds will emerge.
The deadly Amanita is the one to avoid but it looks like the one they’ve seen in huge numbers this year the Smooth Lepiota.
Others spotted locally are the giant puffball hen of the woods, chick of the woods and inky caps.
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