Most Common Mushroom

Shaggy ink cap

The shaggy ink cap is easily recognizable from its almost cylindrical cap which initially covers most of its stem. The cap is mostly white with shaggy scales, which are more pale brown at the apex. The free gills change rapidly from white to pink, then to black. It is deliquescent. The stipe has a loose ring and measures 10–40 cm high by 1–2.5 cm diameter. Microscopically it lacks pleurocystidia. The spore print is black-brown and the spores measure 10–13 by 6.5–8 µm. The flesh is white and the taste mild.

Common morel

The cap is pale brownish cream, yellow to tan or pale brown to grayish brown. The edges of the ridges are usually not darker than the pits, and somewhat oval in outline, sometimes bluntly cone-shaped with a rounded top or more elongate. Caps are hollow, and attached to the stem at the lower edge, and typically about 2–7 cm broad by 2–10 cm tall. The flesh is brittle. The stem is white to pallid or pale yellow, hollow, and straight or with a club-shaped or bulbous base. It is finely granular overall, somewhat ridged, generally about 2–9 cm long by 2–5 cm thick. In age it may have brownish stains near the base. It has a passing resemblance to the common stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus), for which it is sometimes mistaken. Yellow morels are often found near wooded areas. Giant centipedes make their home inside these morels, so you can identify the morel if you see a centipede inside. Infested morels usually have a hole in the top.

Pearl oyster mushroom

The Pearl oyster mushroom is an edible fungus that has become a common part of many cuisines around the world. It typically grows on deciduous wood, though it can be cultivated on straw as well. Interestingly, Pearl oyster mushroom’s are partially carnivorous: they can trap and consume nematode worms that venture into the gills.

Wine cap stropharia

The Wine cap stropharia can grow to an enormous size—its cap can reach 30 cm in diameter, and thus this woodland mushroom is colloquially known as “Godzilla mushroom.” When young, the cap has a distinctive purplish-red color, but as the Wine cap stropharia matures, the cap becomes more brown and dull. The mushroom is also distinguished by its wrinkled ring.

Hen-of-the-woods

Like the sulphur shelf mushroom, G. frondosa is a perennial fungus that often grows in the same place for a number of years in succession. It occurs most prolifically in the northeastern regions of the United States, but has been found as far west as Idaho. G. frondosa grows from an underground tuber-like structure known as a sclerotium, about the size of a potato. The fruiting body, occurring as large as 100 cm, is a cluster consisting of multiple grayish-brown caps which are often curled or spoon-shaped, with wavy margins and 2–7 cm broad. The undersurface of each cap bears about one to three pores per millimeter, with the tubes rarely deeper than 3 mm. The milky-white stipe (stalk) has a branchy structure and becomes tough as the mushroom matures. In Japan, the maitake can grow to more than 100 lb (45 kg), earning this giant mushroom the title “king of mushrooms”. Maitake is one of the major culinary mushrooms used in Japan, the others being shiitake, shimeji, and enoki. They are used in a wide variety of dishes, often being a key ingredient in nabemono or cooked in foil with butter.

Wood ear

Take one look at the Wood ear (Auricularia auricula-judae) and you’ll understand its common name since it has an uncanny resemblance to the human ear. Wood ear is an edible species of mushroom that is a very popular ingredient in Chinese cuisine.

Lion's mane mushroom

Species of this family commonly have fruitbodies with pegs, spines, or teeth hanging from the hymenium.

Cep

The cap of this mushroom is 7–30 cm broad at maturity. Slightly sticky to touch, it is convex in shape when young and flattens with age. The colour is generally reddish-brown fading to white in areas near the margin, and continues to darken as it matures. The stipe, or stem, is 8–25 cm in height, and up to 7 cm thick—rather large in comparison to the cap; it is club-shaped, or bulges out in the middle. It is finely reticulate on the upper portion, but smooth or irregularly ridged on the lower part.

Black truffle

The round, dark brown fruiting bodies (ascocarps) have a black-brown skin with small pyramidal cusps. They have a strong, aromatic smell and normally reach a size of up to 10 cm. Some may be significantly larger, such as a black truffle found 2012 in Dordogne with a mass of 1.277 kg. Their flesh is initially white, then dark. It is permeated by white veins which turn brown with age. The spores are elliptical and measure about 22–55 µm by 20–35 µm. They are dark brown and covered with large spikes.

Button mushroom

The Button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) is farmed in over 70 countries of the world; however, it has its origins in Europe and North America’s pasture lands. It will only grow on organic matter that is actively decaying and will not initiate the act of decomposition, unlike other mushrooms.

Reishi mushroom

The Reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) is considered native to regions in both Europe and China. It is also naturalized in the US in California and Utah. It grows only in the presence of decaying hardwood trees and has become the subject of much scientific study. Several similar species are known by the name Reishi mushroom, and misidentification is common.

Snow fungus

Fruit bodies are gelatinous, watery white, up to 7.5 cm across (larger in cultivated specimens), and composed of thin but erect, seaweed-like, branching fronds, often crisped at the edges. Microscopically, the hyphae are clamped and occur in a dense gelatinous matrix. Haustorial cells arise on the hyphae, producing filaments that attach to and penetrate the hyphae of the host. The basidia are tremelloid (ellipsoid, with oblique to vertical septa), 10–13 by 6.5–10 μm, sometimes stalked. The basidiospores are ellipsoid, smooth, 5–8 by 4–6 μm, and germinate by hyphal tube or by yeast cells.

Sweet tooth

The orange-, yellow- or tan-colored pileus (cap) is up to 17 cm wide, although specimens measuring 25 cm have been documented. It is generally somewhat irregular in shape (it may be convex or concave at maturity), with a wavy margin that is rolled inward when young. Caps grow in a distorted shape when fruit bodies are closely clustered. The cap surface is generally dry and smooth, although mature specimens may show cracking. Viewed from above, the caps of mature specimens resemble somewhat those of chanterelles.

Matsutake

Matsutake (Tricholoma matsutake) is a scarce and much-loved mushroom highly valued in Japan. The mushroom grows only in certain red pine forests, and due to high demand coupled with the reduction of its natural habitat, it is now a rare and highly expensive delicacy. The mushrooms grow beside trees, forming a symbiotic relationship with the host plant’s root system.

King oyster mushroom

The King oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii) is a massive mushroom, so large that it has the largest growing cap in its genus. It is an edible mushroom widely prized for its flavor, which has been compared to scallops. It can be found wild in the warmer temperate zones of the world, and is also cultivated, growing on straw, for commercial use.