Unless your dad is an expert mushroom hunter, do not eat things that he "thinks" are edible. Just last week, in a city 20 km from me, a family of five were hospitalized, nearly died and the five year old needed a liver transplant after they ate mushrooms found on their lawn.

A key to mushrooms can be found at the link below. Even if the key suggests that the mushrooms can be eaten, do not eat them unless a mushroom expert confirms it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mushroom ID

judy b on, thanks for the great Mushroom ID link. My dad thinks a lot of the mushrooms he sees on his walks are edible. Luckily he doesn't cook so he won't eat any. We did go on a couple of mushroom hunts with the local mycological society but found very few edible ones, a disappointment and the ones we found were not delicious.

I don't know the name, but I think they might be mycorrhizal fungi beneficial to trees.

They look like they are in somewhat of a line or row as if following a root. That's a characteristic of mycorrhizal fungi.

If there is a tree there, they are probably good for the tree.

mdvaden, thanks for the comment. I think the mushrooms came in on the woodchips I used for mulch rather than following a root although there is a golden rain tree very close to where the photo was taken so you may be right.