Field Guide

Mushrooms

Showing 1 - 10 of 30 results
Photo of wood ear mushroom, which looks like a brownish human ear stuck to a log
Wood Ear (Tree Ear)
Auricularia auricula (formerly A. auricula-judae)
The wood ear is a reddish brown to grayish black, rubbery, earlike or cup-shaped mushroom. It usually grows in groups on rotting wood.
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 young, golden cluster of ringless honey mushrooms on forest floor
Ringless Honey Mushroom
Desarmillaria caespitosa (formerly Armillaria tabescens)
The ringless honey mushroom is honey-colored, with a dry, scaly cap, and lacks a ring on the stalk. It grows in clusters at the bases of trees or stumps, especially of oaks, and over buried wood.
Photo of several purple-gilled laccarias, tan-lavender mushrooms
Purple-Gilled Laccaria
Laccaria ochropurpurea
The purple-gilled laccaria has a large, tannish lavender cap with thick, purplish gills and a stout stalk. It grows scattered or in groups in grassy areas and under hardwoods and conifers.
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.
Two-colored Bolete
Two-Colored Bolete
Boletus bicolor
The two-colored bolete has a rose red cap that is sometimes yellowish toward the margin. The underside has tiny yellow pores, and the stalk is reddish yellow; all parts slowly bruise blue. Grows singly or in groups of up to several, on the ground under oaks.
Photo of two Frost's boletes, red mushrooms with pores, at different angles
Frost’s Bolete
Boletus frostii
Frost’s bolete has a blood red cap with red pores and a red, webbed stalk; all parts bruise blue. It grows scattered on the ground in oak woods.
Photo of violet-gray bolete, purplish capped mushroom with pores beneath cap
Violet-Gray Bolete
Tylopilus plumbeoviolaceus
The violet-gray bolete has a large, violet-gray cap with cream-pink pores, and a violet stalk that is sometimes webbed. It grows scattered on the ground in mixed woods.
Photo of a thin-maze flat polypore, a bracket fungus, showing concentric rings
Thin-Maze Flat Polypore
Daedaleopsis confragosa (Daedalea confragosa)
The thin-maze flat polypore is a grayish brown bracket fungus with a zoned top and a furrowed, mazelike underside. It grows singly or in small, layered clusters on dead wood or in wounds of living trees.
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..