Field Guide

Mushrooms

Showing 1 - 7 of 7 results
Media
Photograph of a black morel mushroom
Species Types
Scientific Name
Morchella angusticeps (formerly M. elata)
Description
The black morel is a prized edible mushroom. It has a honeycombed cap with black to brownish black ridges and yellowish brown pits. It is completely hollow and grows in the spring.
Media
Photo of orange pinwheel marasmius, tiny, orange, pleated, gilled mushroom
Species Types
Scientific Name
Marasmius siccus
Description
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.
Media
Photograph of a cluster of devil's urn mushrooms, which are brown and gobletlike
Species Types
Scientific Name
Urnula craterium
Description
Devil's urns are goblet-shaped, leathery brown cups. They grow in clusters on small to medium-sized decaying branches of hardwoods, especially oaks. Look for them in spring.
Media
Photo of cluster of hairy rubber cup mushrooms, cup fungi with orangish centers
Species Types
Scientific Name
Galiella rufa (formerly Bulgaria rufa)
Description
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.
Media
Photo of shaggy mane cluster, rounded cylindrical mushrooms growing in grass
Species Types
Scientific Name
Coprinus comatus
Description
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.
Media
Photo of black-staining polypore, a mushroom with tan, wavy, fan-shaped caps
Species Types
Scientific Name
Meripilus sumstinei (formerly M. giganteus)
Description
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.
Media
Photo of a fawn mushroom, which is a brownish gray, gilled, capped mushroom
Species Types
Scientific Name
Pluteus atricapillus (formerly P. cervinus)
Description
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
Media
Photo of several pinesap plants showing multiple flowers per stalk.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Monotropa hypopitys
Description
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.
Media
Picture of a patch of filamentous green algae floating in a stream.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Cladophora, Pithophora, and Spirogyra spp., and others
Description
Filamentous green algae forms green, cottony masses that are free-floating or attached to rocks, debris, or other plants.
Media
Photo of several Indian pipe plants with flowers, rising out of leaf litter.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Monotropa uniflora
Description
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..