Field Guide

Mushrooms

Showing 1 - 10 of 10 results
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 silvery-violet cort, a gray, gilled mushroom, dug up and lying on grass
Silvery-Violet Cort
Cortinarius alboviolaceus
The silvery-violet cort has a dry, grayish violet cap, pale violet gills, a club-shaped stalk, and a cobwebby partial veil. It's found in mixed woods, singly or in groups of many.
Photo of three voluminous-latex milkies, tan mushrooms, of different sizes
Voluminous-Latex Milky
Lactarius volemus
The voluminous-latex milky has a velvety, orangish brown cap and stalk, white gills and flesh that exude a milky white latex, and a fishlike odor. It grows scattered in deciduous woods.
Yellow Patches
Amanita flavoconia
The cap of this mushroom ranges from orange to yellow, with yellowish patches. The stalk has crumbling patches at the base, and a ring. It grows on the ground in mixed woods.
Photo of stalked scarlet cup cluster of red cup mushrooms with white stalks
Stalked Scarlet Cup
Sarcoscypha occidentalis
The stalked scarlet cup is, indeed, a tiny red cup on a tiny white stalk. It grows scattered on fallen wet sticks and branches in damp deciduous woods.
Photograph of cluster of mature gem-studded puffball mushrooms
Gem-Studded Puffball
Lycoperdon perlatum
The gem-studded puffball is a white, rounded to turban-shaped ball, densely covered with spiny warts, developing a pore at the top. It grows on the ground in open woods, along roads, in waste areas.
Photo of smooth chanterelles, vase-shaped yellow and white mushrooms
Smooth Chanterelle
Cantharellus lateritius
The smooth chanterelle has a bright orange to yellow cap, wavy margins, and is smooth on the underside. It grows singly or in large groups in the soil.
Photo of jelly baby single yellowish gelatinous mushroom
Jelly Baby
Leotia lubrica
The jelly baby is a small mushroom with a gelatinous, orangish yellow stalk and head. It grows in groups on soil in mixed woods.
Photo of pale chicken of the woods.
Pale Chicken of the Woods
Laetiporus cincinnatus
Pale chicken of the woods has layered, fan-shaped, fleshy caps that are orange to pinkish orange on top and white below. This edible fungus grows in overlapping clusters or rosettes on stumps, trunks, and logs of dead or dying deciduous trees, and on living trees and buried roots.
Photo of a blusher, a tan gilled mushroom, showing injured spot turning rust red
Amanitas
Amanita spp. (about 600 species, worldwide)
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!
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..