Field Guide

Mushrooms

Showing 1 - 10 of 19 results
Photo of beefsteak polypore, a rust-colored bracket fungus growing on tree base
Beefsteak Polypore
Fistulina hepatica
The beefsteak polypore is a thick, semicircular, reddish or rusty, gelatinous bracket with a pinkish yellow underside. It grows at the base of living oaks and on stumps.
Photo of wolf's-milk slime, a small pinkish rounded slime mold
Wolf's-Milk Slime (Toothpaste Slime)
Lycogala epidendrum
Wolf's-milk slime looks like little, round, reddish pink balls that exude a pinkish gray paste when popped. It grows in groups on dead wood, especially large logs. It's not really a mushroom!
Photo of ling chih, a shiny, hard, rust-colored bracket fungus, growing on tree
Ling Chih (Lingzhi; Reishi Mushroom)
Ganoderma sessile (formerly G. lucidum)
The ling chih is a hard, usually flat, zoned bracket fungus with a reddish brown, shiny top. It grows at the base of living and dead deciduous trees, and also around stumps.
Photograph of several hexagonal-pored polypores, tan bracket fungi
Hexagonal-Pored Polypore
Polyporus alveolaris (formerly Favolus alveolaris)
This polypore is an orange to tan, fan-shaped bracket that is scaly on top; the underside has rows of white, six-sided, radially arranged pores. It grows singly or in groups on dead branches of deciduous trees.
Chicken of the Woods
Sulfur-Colored Chicken of the Woods
Laetiporus sulphureus
Sulfur-colored chicken of the woods is an edible fungus with layered, fan-shaped, fleshy caps that are orange on top and sulfur yellow below. It grows in overlapping clusters on stumps, trunks, and logs of dead or dying deciduous trees, and on living trees and buried roots.
Photo of coral-pink merulius, pink bracket mushrooms growing on wood
Coral-Pink Merulius
Phlebia incarnata (formerly Merulius incarnatus)
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.
Photo of orange mycena cluster, small, orange, gilled mushrooms
Orange Mycena
Mycena leaiana
The orange mycena is a small, sticky, bell-shaped, orange mushroom. It grows in dense clusters on deciduous wood.
Photo of lobster mushroom, which is orange-yellow and finely bumpy
Lobster Mushroom
Hypomyces lactifluorum
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.
Photo of a scarlet cup mushroom growing on fallen sticks
Scarlet Cup
Sarcoscypha dudleyi
The scarlet cup is small, red, and usually stalkless, with a white outer surface. It grows on fallen wet sticks and branches in damp deciduous woods.
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.
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..