They are often available fresh in regions they are cultivated, but elsewhere are more frequently found canned or dried.

[2] In their button stage, straw mushrooms resemble poisonous death caps, but can be distinguished by several mycological features, including their pink spore print (spore prints of death caps are white).

The two mushrooms have different distributions, with the death cap generally not found where the straw mushroom grows natively, but immigrants, particularly those from Southeast Asia to California and Australia, have been poisoned due to misidentification.

[3][4] Straw mushrooms are grown on rice straw beds and are most commonly picked when immature (often labelled "unpeeled"), during their button or egg phase, and before the veil ruptures.

[5] They are adaptable, taking four to five days to mature, and are most successfully grown in subtropical climates with high annual rainfall.