Mushrooms
Media
![Photo of golden chanterelles, yellow and white vase-shaped mushrooms](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2010/09/36.jpg?itok=VHIukULT)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Cantharellus cibarius
Description
Golden chanterelles have a bright orange to yellow cap with wavy margins; beneath, they're orange-yellow, with forked ridges (not true gills) descending the stalk. They grow in soil.
Media
![Image of smooth chanterelle](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2010/05/chantarelle.jpg?itok=0s2Io4wM)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Cantharellaceae (various members of family)
Description
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.
Media
![Photo of scarlet waxy cap, a small mushroom with reddish conical cap](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/05/scarlet_waxy_cap_05-01-13.jpg?itok=JDtcnfUC)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Hygrocybe coccinea (Hygrophorous coccineus)
Description
The scarlet waxy cap has a scarlet, moist cap, with a stem colored like the cap (or a little more orange). It grows on the ground in mixed woods.
Media
![Photograph of cluster of mature gem-studded puffball mushrooms](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/04/gem-studded_puffballs_mature_4-11-13.jpg?itok=zX4uB9Gu)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Lycoperdon perlatum
Description
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.
Media
![Photo of two ash tree boletes, tan pored mushrooms, one overturned showing pores](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/04/ash-tree_bolete_04-11-13.jpg?itok=ofTLZnVB)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Boletinellus merulioides
Description
The ash tree bolete is a pored mushroom with a brownish, wavy cap, an off-center stalk, and clearly defined pores. It grows scattered on the ground near ash trees.
Media
![Two-colored Bolete](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Two-colored%20bolete.jpg?itok=Gmm04pBn)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Boletus bicolor
Description
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.
Media
![Photo of smooth chanterelles, vase-shaped yellow and white mushrooms](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2013/04/smooth_chanterelle_04-11-13.jpg?itok=9GDn_X5g)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Cantharellus lateritius
Description
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.
Media
![puffball mushroom](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Puffball.jpg?itok=YeqjNIs3)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Calvatia gigantea (Langermannia gigantea)
Description
The giant puffball is a huge, white, smooth ball with a completely white interior that becomes yellowish green with age. It grows in open pastures, woods, and lawns.
Media
![Photo of uprooted rooting polypore mushroom on pavement, showing cap.](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2014/09/rooting_polypore_09-17-14.jpg?itok=3zuXQ_LI)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Polyporus radicatus
Description
The rooting polypore has a scruffy, tough, yellowish-brown cap with whitish-yellow pores, and a stalk with a long, black, rootlike filament. It usually grows singly, on the ground near stumps or attached to buried roots.
Media
Species Types
Scientific Name
Scleroderma citrinum (Scleroderma aurantium)
Description
The pigskin puffball is a rounded, warted, yellowish brown ball with blackish purple flesh. It grows on the ground, on wood debris, and near trees in woods.
See Also
Media
![Photo of several pinesap plants showing multiple flowers per stalk.](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2014/09/pinesap_9-23-14.jpg?itok=jjwFrdbh)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Monotropa hypopitys
Description
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.
Media
![Picture of a patch of filamentous green algae floating in a stream.](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2015/08/filamentous_algae_8-11-15.jpg?itok=I8p9SGFg)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Cladophora, Pithophora, and Spirogyra spp., and others
Description
Filamentous green algae forms green, cottony masses that are free-floating or attached to rocks, debris, or other plants.
Media
![Photo of several Indian pipe plants with flowers, rising out of leaf litter.](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2014/09/indian_pipe_09-16-14.jpg?itok=PrRPNYwJ)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Monotropa uniflora
Description
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..