Field Guide

Mushrooms

Showing 1 - 9 of 9 results
Photo of witches' butter, a yellow gelatinous bloblike fungus
Witches’ Butter
Tremella mesenterica
Witches' butter is a fungus that looks like small, yellow, irregularly lobed, gelatinous masses. It grows on dead deciduous wood, especially oaks.
Photo of velvet foot mushrooms, mature, showing black stems.
Velvet Foot
Flammulina velutipes
The velvet foot, or enoki, has a tawny, sticky cap with whitish gills. The stalk is yellowish above and brownish below. They grow in clusters on deciduous logs.
Photo of a cinnabar polypore, which is a reddish orange bracket fungus
Cinnabar Polypore
Pycnoporus cinnabarinus
The cinnabar polypore is a bracket fungus that is tough, fan-shaped, and bright red-orange above and below. It grows on dead deciduous branches, twigs, and wood, mainly oak.
Photo of false turkey tail bracket fungus closeup, one showing smooth underside
False Turkey Tail
Stereum ostrea
False turkey tail grows in large, layered groups of leathery, parchmentlike brackets with multicolored zones and a smooth underside. Look for it on stumps and logs of deciduous trees, especially oaks.
Photo of big cluster of turkey tails, bracket fungus with concentric color rings
Turkey Tail Mushroom
Trametes versicolor
Turkey tail grows in clusters of leathery, thin brackets with multicolored zones above and whitish yellow pores below. Look for it on stumps and logs of deciduous trees.
Photo of several violet toothed polypores, violet-gray bracket fungi
Violet Toothed Polypore
Trichaptum biforme
The violet toothed polypore is a bracket fungus with tough, hairy caps with violet margins and zones of white, brown, and black; beneath, the whitish violet pores break into teeth. It grows on stumps and logs of deciduous wood.
Photo of black-footed polypore, mature specimens, with photographer's foot.
Black-Footed Polypore
Polyporus badius
The black-footed polypore has a smooth, wavy brown cap with whitish or tannish pores on the underside and a black, smooth, off-center stalk. It grows singly or in groups of up to several on dead wood and stumps of deciduous trees.
Photo of several deadly galerina mushroom caps, viewed from above.
Deadly Galerina
Galerina marginata (G. autumnalis)
The deadly galerina has a brownish, sticky cap, yellowish to rusty gills, and a ring on the stalk. It grows scattered or clustered on deciduous and coniferous logs.
Several cedar-apple rust galls, with inflated telial horns, hanging from a cedar tree
Cedar-Apple Rust
Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae
With their gelatinous orange tentacles, cedar-apple rust galls are one of Missouri’s freakiest sights in spring. Cedar-apple rust is a fungus with a two-part life cycle. Its two unrelated host plants are a juniper, such as eastern red cedar, and a tree in the rose family, especially apple and crabapple.
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..