Can I eat these right from the dirt or do I have to wash them and let them dry out first?
Thanks for any help.

This particular specimen was printed to be sure as it was not a slam dunk macroscopically which was the reason I documented it. This was the first species I targeted over 15 years ago as a teen(I’m sure you can guess why) To me they are easy to distinguish in the field using a combination of senses developed over time colors, sturdiness, smell and just the feel of them in my hand. I agree that in lawns panaeolus foenisecii is the dominant species. This particular regional park is where high end sports travel teams meet. It has a grounds crew on site and has 18 different fields (soccer, lacrosse, baseball) that are routinely sprayed with a combo of manure, top soil, and finely shredded mulch which creates soft lush fields ripe with all sorts of things after a heavy rain. Panaeolus foenisecii is no doubt the dominant species here as well as I encountered thousands but to the keen observer there are plenty of Panaeolus cinctulus and this represents only a tiny fraction of what was encountered.

what criteria you’re using to distinguish Panaeolus cinctulus from Panaeolina/Panaeolus foenisecii…? If it’s spore print color, then the difference is best seen with a thick print collected on pure black medium. Like this, the foenisecii print will show a subtle purple-brown hue; the cinctulus print will virtually disappear when taken on black.

Particularly robust foenisecii can look a lot like cinctulus, especially when the moisture content in the cap causes the color-banding. In my experience, fruit bodies found on lawns are more likely to be foenisecii.