Field Guide

Mushrooms

Showing 1 - 7 of 7 results
Media
Photo of scarlet waxy cap, a small mushroom with reddish conical cap
Species Types
Scientific Name
Hygrocybe coccinea (Hygrophorous coccineus)
Description
The scarlet waxy cap has a scarlet, moist cap, with a stem colored like the cap (or a little more orange). It grows on the ground in mixed woods.
Media
Photo of coral-pink merulius, pink bracket mushrooms growing on wood
Species Types
Scientific Name
Phlebia incarnata (formerly Merulius incarnatus)
Description
The coral-pink merulius is a small, semicircular bracket fungus that is pinkish to coral to cream-colored, wrinkled, and veined beneath. It grows on dead logs and stumps of deciduous trees.
Media
Photo of orange mycena cluster, small, orange, gilled mushrooms
Species Types
Scientific Name
Mycena leaiana
Description
The orange mycena is a small, sticky, bell-shaped, orange mushroom. It grows in dense clusters on deciduous wood.
Media
Photo of lobster mushroom, which is orange-yellow and finely bumpy
Species Types
Scientific Name
Hypomyces lactifluorum
Description
In a lobster mushroom, the cap, gills, and stalk of a host mushroom are covered by a finely bumpy, vivid orange to orange-red layer of mold. The gills of the host mushroom can be entirely obscured by the parasite.
Media
Photo of several reddening lepiota mushrooms, one showing gills and stem ring.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Leucoagaricus americanus (Lepiota americana)
Description
The reddening lepiota is a large, reddish brown mushroom with a scaly cap and a ring on the stalk; it bruises dark red. It grows singly or in clusters in mulch piles, waste areas, and around stumps.
Media
Photo of a blusher, a tan gilled mushroom, showing injured spot turning rust red
Species Types
Scientific Name
Amanita spp. (about 600 species, worldwide)
Description
This large group of mushrooms accounts for 90 percent of mushroom-related deaths, so every mushroom hunter should be familiar with amanitas. They contain one of the deadliest poisons found in nature!
Media
Photo of cluster of bleeding mycenas, small, capped, reddish mushrooms
Species Types
Scientific Name
Mycena haematopus
Description
The bleeding mycena is a small mushroom with a bell-shaped, reddish brown cap that bleeds dark red when cut. It usually grows in clusters on decaying 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..