In Bantock Park, there’s a row of conifers and silver birches on the edge of the pitch and putt course. Most autumns, the area round these trees is good for mushrooms, with several different species including fly agarics.
This year has been quite a good one. The mushroom in these pictures was growing under the same tree as some fly agarics. The warty appearance marked it as some kind of agaric. The domed cap, looking very like a golf ball from a distance, meant it had probably emerged during the previous night.
This was pure white all over. Fly agarics have bright red caps, fading to orange after heavy rain. The white flecks on fly agaric caps are the remains of the veil which protected it when it was forcing its way through the soil. So our pure white mushroom must be a different, much rarer species.
Another visit to the park four or five days later ended such speculations. The mushroom had grown to its full size. As the cap expanded and flattened, the veil had now broken, revealing the red below.