The Famous Market Mushroom of Many Names

Did you know that the White Button, Crimini, and Portobello are all the same fungus?! Meet the common edible mushroom Agaricus bisporus!


The White Button is just an immature fungus that has not been exposed to light. The Crimini is just a browned version of the same immature mushroom after it has been exposed to light. Finally, the Portobello mushroom is just the final mature stage of the fungal fruiting body!


Usually these three mushrooms are how children and adults alike are introduced to eating mushrooms for the first time. Unfortunately, often enough many people will not prefer the taste of the Agaricus bisporus, but, because they have been exposed to three versions of the same mushroom being sold as three distinct mushrooms, these people often develop the perception that all mushrooms must taste like this.


While it is true that some supermarkets and markets will pass other mushrooms off for Portobellos, most of the time, what is being marketed as these household name mushrooms is the Agaricus bisporus.

Some of the other names for Agaricus bisporus include:

• common mushroom
• cultivated mushroom 
• table mushroom
• champignon mushroom 
• Swiss brown mushroom
• Roman brown mushroom 
• Italian brown mushroom
• chestnut mushroom

Well, let me tell you now that there are a LOT of edible mushrooms out there and the each have their unique tastes! So, get a field guide and start learning about and tasting some of the incredible easy to identify edible mushrooms out there!