The Neighborhood

 

Having just moved to Riverside, Ca from Chicago, IL I am using the Urban Land Scout initiative will help foster my connection to this new environment and raise awareness to my surroundings.  

About a mile from my house is Victoria lane, this street has preserved a lot of the characteristic of this area which has been known for growing citrus fruits sold around the world. It is home to the national citrus museum, as well as several other private citrus groves.

The groves are watered along ditches running on either side of a row, the ditches are fed by a column of water outlets like the ones pictured above. Water is allowed to penetrate deeply into the soil where little else grows beneath the shade of fruit trees.

Presumably, pickers then are hired on by owners directly, or in some cases work for independent outlets. This colorful marketplace resides among those groves on Victoria lane, its a larger compound selling earthenware and citrus, and possibly holds the occasional gathering around this simple outdoor kitchen.

Mushroom Identification

Mushroom of the inky cap family (coprinaceae) found growing in chip mulch during October in Southern California climate on the first clear day of five. The weather had been moist with light rainfall.
The stalk is lined, but mostly smooth, white in color, 3 inches tall, and ringless.
Cap was most likely bell shaped at the peak of its maturation. In these photos the top of the mushroom has some debris, making it appear more knobbed. It is brownish in color, and looks like it has flat scales or patches. It may also appear mottled because it is late in its life cycle.
The gills appear crowded and black,descending into the stalk, and staining the fingers black when handling.
The spores are also black.
My three best guesses, in order of highest likely hood are:
-a bell capped panalaeolus/ Panaeolus campanulatus
-a common lawnmower mushroom/  Psathyrella foenisecii (these are edible)
-an orange mat coprinus/ Coprinus radians (ruled out for having no orange fuzz at base of stalk)