The species was first
described as
Agaricus cretaceus by the French botanist
Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard in 1788. Bulliard produced a spectacular illustration of '''L'Agaric Cretacé
in one of his numerous volumes of Herbier de la France'
and described the mushroom as fluffy and as white as chalk. He noted that the mushrooms appeared in July and August and that he had only ever found them in hot greenhouses and planters under cold frames. He claimed that the mushrooms were very pleasant to taste and smell. His illustration however may be more consistent with Leucocoprinus cepistipes''. In 1801 the German mycologist
Christiaan Hendrik Persoon listed
Agaricus cretaceus and
Agaricus luteus (now
Leucocoprinus birnbaumii) as variants of
Agaricus cepaestipes noting that one was totally white and the other totally yellow. He also suggested these species might belong in the
Coprinus genus noting 'Copr.?' beside the name. In 1821 it was classified as
Coprinus cepaestipes var. cretaceus by the British mycologist
Samuel Frederick Gray, however
Coprinus cepaestipes was erroneously described as 'entirely yellow' and apparently conflated with
Agaricus luteus which gray considered a synonym. In 1836 the Swedish mycologist
Elias Magnus Fries described
Pluteus cretaceus which he gave the common name
Krithvita champignonen which translates as 'chalk white mushroom'. This species is now considered a synonym of
L. cretaceus however the description given is quite basic noting only that it is a completely white mushroom with a hollow stem, a ring and no volva. The gills are described as noticeably wide and retain the white colour until the mushroom starts to degrade. Fries says it was tastier than normal mushrooms and found around Lund in Sweden in late Autumn. This species is listed alongside
Pluteus campestris and
Pluteus bombycinus (now known as
Agaricus campestris and
Volvariella bombycina) and the section is introduced noting that these edible species have reddish or brown spores but that they do not deliquesce like Coprinoids. From this description it seems doubtful that Fries was actually describing
L. cretaceus and more likely that he observed
Leucoagaricus leucothites. This species is common in Europe, all white but has gills which discolour pinkish with age whereas the tropi
cal L. cretaceus would likely find the environmental conditions in late Autumn Sweden unfavourable. In 1871 the German mycologist
Paul Kummer described
Psalliota cretacea citing as a completely white mushroom usually with a tanned colour to the top of the cap. He suggested the German common name of
Kreideweißer champignon which likewise translates as 'chalk white mushroom' and also said this mushroom was edible and tasty. Most of the species in the
Psalliota genus went on to be reclassified as
Agaricus however and Kummer is describing this species amongst them. So this also seems more likely to be
Leucoagaricus leucothites rather than
Leucocoprinus cretaceus. In 1878 the French mycologist
Claude Casimir Gillet reclassified Fries'
Pluteus cretaceus as
Pratella cretacea, and so it is also now regarded as a synonym however Gillet's section on the
Pratella species says they have brown or purple-black spores and most of the species he describes as
Pratella, many of which with illustrated plates, have also since been classified as
Agaricus. Kummer and Gillet described many of the same species with the same names and only the genus they thought they belonged to differed. This species does not appear to be illustrated amongst them however and little description is given besides the gills being white and only turning flesh coloured or brownish towards the end. So Gillet may also be describing
Leucoagaricus leucothites. He says the species is edible with a pleasant flavour and that it grows in gardens, vineyards and cultivated fields in France during the Summer and Autumn. An illustration of this species was included in
Mordecai Cubitt Cooke's
Illustrations of British Fungi published between 1881 and 1891 with the species name being given as
Agaricus (Lepiota) Cepaestipes var. cretaceus. In 1887 the Italian mycologist
Pier Andrea Saccardo classified it as a variant of
Lepiota cepaestipes (now
Leucocoprinus cepistipes) whilst also describing
Lepiota lutea (now
Leucocoprinus birnbaumii) as another variant. In 1889 the French mycologist
Narcisse Patouillard included an illustration of
Leucocoprinus cepaestipes in his book
Tabulae analyticae fungorum stating that the species was found in greenhouses however this illustration appears to actually be depicting
Leucocoprinus cretaceus. This highlights the confusion between these two species. in 1898 the German botanist
Otto Kuntze proposed major reclassifications in his book entitled
Revisio generum plantarum and suggested that
Michel Adanson's pre-
Linnaean system genus
Fungus should be resurrected for numerous
Agaricus and
Stropharia species with
Fungus cretaceus being one of the
new combinations created. Like many of Kuntze's propositions from this book, the idea was not adopted and nothing remains in the
Fungus genus. In 1918 the Italian botanist and mycologist
Oreste Mattirolo classified it as
Lepiota cretacea. His illustration does look like
Leucocoprinus cretaceus though beyond adding a spore size he does not provide a description instead referring to the description of
Agaricus (Lepiota) cretaceus written by Carlo Vittadini which Mattirolo describes as like a 'photograph made with words'. Despite this seeming to settle the matter this species is still conflated with
Leucocoprinus cepistipes due to source material based upon these outdated classifications, sometimes resulting in confusion identifying these species. In 1953 the Austrian mycologist
Meinhard Michael Moser classified it as
Leucoagaricus cretaceus however it is currently known as
Leucocoprinus cretaceus and it is not unusual to find these species switching back and forth between classifications as
Leucoagaricus or
Leucocoprinus due to the lack of clear distinction between these genera. {{Gallery| mode=traditional == Description ==