Field Guide

Mushrooms

Showing 1 - 10 of 10 results
Image of smooth chanterelle
Chanterelles
Cantharellaceae (various members of family)
Chanterelles are funnel- or trumpet-shaped and have wavy cap edges. Most are bright orange or yellow, although one, the black trumpet, is brownish black.
Photo of orange pinwheel marasmius, tiny, orange, pleated, gilled mushroom
Orange Pinwheel Marasmius
Marasmius siccus
The orange pinwheel marasmius is a tiny mushroom with an orange, bell-shaped, pleated cap, white gills, and a skinny brownish stalk. It grows scattered to many on dead leaves, wood, and twigs of deciduous trees.
Photo of cluster of hairy rubber cup mushrooms, cup fungi with orangish centers
Hairy Rubber Cup
Galiella rufa (formerly Bulgaria rufa)
The hairy rubber cup has a reddish to brownish inner surface; the outside is blackish brown and hairy. It grows in clusters on dead deciduous wood.
Photo of shaggy mane cluster, rounded cylindrical mushrooms growing in grass
Shaggy Mane
Coprinus comatus
The shaggy mane has a white, shaggy, cylindrical cap that turns black and inky. It often grows in large numbers along roadsides and in lawns and disturbed areas.
Photo of an old man of the woods, a grayish, pored mushroom with a shaggy cap
Old Man Of The Woods
Strobilomyces floccopus
The old man of the woods has a grayish black, shaggy cap with grayish pores and a grayish black, shaggy stalk. It usually grows singly, on the ground in mixed hardwood forests.
Photo of black-staining polypore, a mushroom with tan, wavy, fan-shaped caps
Black-Staining Polypore
Meripilus sumstinei (formerly M. giganteus)
The black-staining polypore grows in large, circular clusters of many fleshy, grayish yellow, fan-shaped caps, which bruise black when cut or touched. It grows on the ground around deciduous trees, especially oaks.
Photo of two black trumpets, dark brown vase-shaped mushrooms on mossy ground
Black Trumpet
Craterellus cornucopioides (C. fallax)
The black trumpet is dark brown to black, vase- or trumpet-shaped, with a wavy margin and no gills. It grows in groups of few to many on rocky, mossy hillsides in deciduous woods.
Photo of mature dead man's fingers mushrooms, lumpy grayish black masses
Dead Man’s Fingers
Xylaria polymorpha
Dead man’s fingers is a black, distorted, clublike or finger-shaped fungus with a wrinkled, charcoal-like surface. It grows in clusters at the base of rotting deciduous trees and stumps.
Photo of uprooted rooting polypore mushroom on pavement, showing cap.
Rooting Polypore
Polyporus radicatus
The rooting polypore has a scruffy, tough, yellowish-brown cap with whitish-yellow pores, and a stalk with a long, black, rootlike filament. It usually grows singly, on the ground near stumps or attached to buried roots.
Photo of a fawn mushroom, which is a brownish gray, gilled, capped mushroom
Fawn Mushroom
Pluteus atricapillus (formerly P. cervinus)
The fawn mushroom has a brownish gray cap with whitish to pinkish gills and a whitish stalk. It grows singly or scattered, on dead wood or on the ground over buried wood.
See Also
Photo of several pinesap plants showing multiple flowers per stalk.
Pinesap (False Beech Drops)
Monotropa hypopitys
Pinesap is a plant that puts the "wild" in wildflower! It lacks chlorophyll, so its roots connect to fungi underground and absorb nutrients from the fungi.
Picture of a patch of filamentous green algae floating in a stream.
Filamentous Green Algae (Pond Scum)
Cladophora, Pithophora, and Spirogyra spp., and others
Filamentous green algae forms green, cottony masses that are free-floating or attached to rocks, debris, or other plants.
Photo of several Indian pipe plants with flowers, rising out of leaf litter.
Indian Pipe
Monotropa uniflora
Indian pipe lacks chlorophyll, so it is white, not green. Below ground, its roots join with fungi that connect to tree roots. This plant, then, takes nourishment indirectly from the trees.

About Mushrooms in Missouri

Mushrooms are a lot like plants, but they lack chlorophyll and have to take nutrients from other materials. Mushrooms are neither plants nor animals. They are in a different kingdom — the fungi. Fungi include the familiar mushroom-forming species, plus the yeasts, molds, smuts, and rusts.

Always be cautious when eating edible mushrooms. Be absolutely sure of the ID, and only eat a small amount the first time you try it to avoid a reaction..