Agaric

An agaric is a common name for a group of gilled mushrooms that have a cap, a stalk, and a lamellate underside. The term derives from the genus Agaricus, a well-known and widely cultivated group, but in modern usage "agaric" describes many gilled mushrooms across several genera within the order Agaricales. Historically, it was sometimes applied to most mushrooms with a cap and gills.

Most agarics have a pileus (cap) atop a stalk, with gills on the underside that produce spores. Spore color is a characteristic used in identification; many agarics produce brown to brownish spores. They display a wide range of sizes, colors, and textures and can be found in a variety of habitats.

Ecologically, agarics are widely distributed and predominantly saprotrophic or mycorrhizal. They occur in forests, grasslands, and human-altered landscapes, feeding on decaying plant matter or forming associations with trees.

Humans cultivate and consume some agarics, most notably Agaricus bisporus, the common button mushroom, including white and brown varieties. Other edible species exist, such as A. campestris and A. arvensis. However, many agarics and other gilled mushrooms are poisonous or hallucinogenic, so wild specimens should not be consumed without expert identification. In summary, "agaric" describes a broad, morphologically defined group of gilled mushrooms rather than a single taxonomic unit.