Field Guide

Mushrooms

Showing 41 - 50 of 54 results
Photo of pale chicken of the woods.
Pale Chicken of the Woods
Laetiporus cincinnatus
Pale chicken of the woods has layered, fan-shaped, fleshy caps that are orange to pinkish orange on top and white below. This edible fungus grows in overlapping clusters or rosettes on stumps, trunks, and logs of dead or dying deciduous trees, and on living trees and buried roots.
Photo of two comb tooth mushroom clusters growing on a fallen log.
Comb Tooth
Hericium coralloides (formerly H. ramosum)
The comb tooth is a branched, whitish mass on fallen logs and decaying deciduous trees. Its branches are covered with tufts of hanging, toothlike spines.
Photo of many crowded pear-shaped puffballs growing on a stump.
Pear-Shaped Puffball
Lycoperdon pyriforme (Morganella pyriformis)
This is a pear-shaped, yellowish brownish puffball with a pore at the top. Pear-shaped puffballs typically grow in large clusters on decaying wood, logs, and stumps.
Photo of several reddening lepiota mushrooms, one showing gills and stem ring.
Reddening Lepiota
Leucoagaricus americanus (Lepiota americana)
The reddening lepiota is a large, reddish brown mushroom with a scaly cap and a ring on the stalk; it bruises dark red. It grows singly or in clusters in mulch piles, waste areas, and around stumps.
Photo of an alcohol inky mushroom cut in half lengthwise.
Alcohol Inky
Coprinopsis atramentaria (formerly Coprinus atramentarius)
The alcohol inky has a gray-brown, bell-shaped, radially lined cap and inky gills. It grows in clusters on the ground, usually near rotting or buried wood.
Blewits
Blewit
Lepista nuda (Clitocybe nuda; Tricholoma nudum)
The blewit grows scattered in open areas, in mulch piles, and along paths. All parts of this mushroom—cap, gills and stalk—are violet to tan.
Photo of cluster of common laccaria, small brownish pink mushrooms, in grass
Common Laccaria
Laccaria laccata
The common laccaria has a small, brownish pink cap with a central depression; the gills and stalk are a pale pinkish brown. Grows scattered or in groups in poor or sandy soil in mixed woods.
Photo of many tan fairy ring mushrooms, some uprooted, growing in grass
Fairy Ring Mushroom
Marasmius oreades
The fairy ring mushroom has a tan to reddish brown, knobbed cap with off-white gills. It grows in grassy areas, lawns, meadows, often in circles called fairy rings.
Photo of green cracking russula, greenish-capped, gilled mushroom
Green Cracking Russula
Russula virescens
Green cracking russula has a cap with a greenish, cracked, mosaic-like top, and cream-colored gills. It grows singly or in groups in mixed woods.
Photo of a fawn mushroom, which is a brownish gray, gilled, capped mushroom
Fawn Mushroom
Pluteus atricapillus (formerly P. cervinus)
The fawn mushroom has a brownish gray cap with whitish to pinkish gills and a whitish stalk. It grows singly or scattered, on dead wood or on the ground over buried wood.
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..