Widely distributed in Europe and temperate regions of Asia as far east as China, it grows in grassy areas such as fields, parks and gardens, and is often mistaken for edible mushrooms.

It is highly toxic, with several deaths having been recorded as it resembles the edible grey knight (Tricholoma terreum) and fairy ring champignon (Marasmius oreades).

The species was described by Swiss botanists Robert Hippolyte Chodat and Charles-Édouard Martin in 1889, who noted it growing on roadsides in Geneva in Switzerland.

[8] A person survived after eating five specimens picked alongside Agaricus bisporus in Kaynarca, Sakarya, in Turkey in 2013.

[9] The symptoms are initially gastrointestinal, with nausea and vomiting around ten hours after consumption, followed by liver damage a few days later.

[10] It resembles the fairy ring champignon (Marasmius oreades), which is also found in grassy areas, though the pale brown cap of this species lacks scales.

The acute gastric symptoms may mislead medical management if the mushroom is not identified, and delay specific liver-protective measures.