Strand-Egerling vs Hornfrucht-Ahorn

Agaricus litoralis compared with Acer diabolicum

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Strand-Egerling	Hornfrucht-Ahorn
Kingdom	Fungi (Pilze)	Plantae (Pflanzen)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Ständerpilze)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Agaricales (Champignonartige)	Sapindales (Seifenbaumartige)
Family	Agaricaceae (Agarics)	Sapindaceae
Genus	Agaricus (Button Mushrooms)	Acer
Species	Agaricus litoralis	Acer diabolicum

Conservation Status

Strand-Egerling

LC — Least Concern

Hornfrucht-Ahorn

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Strand-Egerling	Hornfrucht-Ahorn
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Strand-Egerling

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Hornfrucht-Ahorn

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Strand-Egerling

Agaricus litoralis, the coastal mushroom, is a saprotrophic agaric fungus in the family Agaricaceae occurring in sand dunes, coastal grassland, and sandy soil habitats along the coasts of northwestern Europe, with confirmed records from Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The genus Agaricus contains the familiar cultivated button mushroom (A. bisporus) along with hundreds of wild species, and members are characterized by a ring on the stem and browning, discoloring, or non-discoloring flesh when cut, features used in field identification. Agaricus litoralis is a medium-sized mushroom producing white to cream-colored caps 4–10 centimeters across with pinkish then dark brown gills and a stout stem with a double ring, fruiting in sand dune hollows and the grassy margins of coastal habitats from summer through autumn. The specific epithet litoralis refers directly to its coastal habitat preference. As a saprotroph, it decomposes organic matter in the sandy soil substrate, releasing nutrients back into the ecosystem. The species is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, being relatively widespread in suitable coastal sandy habitat across northwestern Europe. Like many coastal fungi, it is specifically adapted to the nutrient-poor, well-drained, alkaline conditions of stabilized sand dune systems.