Shaggy parasol

This picture shows an organism, which nearly exclusively lives under the earth. This subterranean part can become very old and huge.

Visible is only the overground part. The impressive specimen, of which a detail can be seen here, was about 30cm high. I found it in the beginning of august 2000 near the Teufelsley (a mountain. The name means something like "devil's cliff") near Ahrbrück upon the Ahr. It is edible, and many people really eat it: It is a Shaggy Parasol (Macrolepiota rhacodes), a fine edible mushroom.