Field Guide

Mushrooms

Showing 11 - 20 of 66 results
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 oyster mushrooms growing on a tree trunk
Oyster Mushroom
Pleurotus ostreatus and P. pulmonarius
Oyster mushrooms are choice edibles with broad, fleshy, whitish, grayish, or tan caps and a stubby, off-center stalk. They grow clustered on stumps, logs, and trunks.
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.
Photo of splash cup mushrooms, tiny cup fungi that look like bird nests
Splash Cup (Bird’s Nest Fungus)
Crucibulum laeve
Splash cups have small brown cups holding tiny “eggs” that are each attached to the “nest” by a cord. They grow in clusters on dead wood, debris, wood chips, and mulch.
Photo of shaggy mane cluster, rounded cylindrical mushrooms growing in grass
Shaggy Mane
Coprinus comatus
The shaggy mane has a white, shaggy, cylindrical cap that turns black and inky. It often grows in large numbers along roadsides and in lawns and disturbed areas.
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 two pallid boletes, tan mushrooms, one upturned to show pores under cap
Pallid Bolete
Boletus pallidus
The pallid bolete has a pale cream to buff cap and stalk and pale cream-yellow pores. It grows singly or in groups of up to several, on the ground in oak woods.
Photo of an old man of the woods, a grayish, pored mushroom with a shaggy cap
Old Man Of The Woods
Strobilomyces floccopus
The old man of the woods has a grayish black, shaggy cap with grayish pores and a grayish black, shaggy stalk. It usually grows singly, on the ground in mixed hardwood forests.
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..