Mycoremediation is the use of fungi to break down or remove pollution from soil, water, and air. It is being developed to use on petroleum, pesticides, industrial dyes, heavy metals, and a long list of other contaminants. Researchers have found that many wood-decaying fungi have the right chemical tools to break down pollutants. They work […]

If you find a mushroom with a stem covered in tiny dark bumps, as if it rolled through ground pepper, it is almost always a scaber stalk bolete (Leccinum sp.). Those bumps are called scabers (hence the common name), and no other bolete genus has the same rough, speckled look covering the entirety of the

Coral mushrooms look like something that belongs in a tide pool. The fruiting body branches upward in dense clusters of fingers and forks, like the sea coral it is named for. These corals range in color from bone white to butter yellow to bright red.

You don’t always have to go out to the forest to find a mushroom; there are tons of urban mushrooms. Mushrooms grow in many places, including mowed lawns, wood chip paths, a mulched flower bed, a potted houseplant, on trees along streets, and in public parks. Many types of mushrooms can grow within a short

Plums and custard (Tricholomopsis rutilans) sounds like an edible mushroom, but unfortunately it is not. It is way too bitter to be enjoyable. It is a beautiful mushroom, though, and a lot of fun to see. The cap is bright yellow and covered in a dense coat of tiny purple-red scales, and the gills underneath

A bunch of fungi species grow in some very unusual places. There are mushrooms that grow in horse dung, burned ground, the caps of other mushrooms, buried pine cones, and dead insects.

Some mushrooms change color when you press on their flesh or cut the stem or gills.  The colors range all the way from blue to yellow, red, and black. The cornflower bolete turns deep blue, while the yellow stainer turns chrome yellow, and a milk cap can bleed blue or red juice from a single

Finding a mushroom that bleeds, oozes, or drips can be a little unnerving. Some look like they’re covered in drops of blood, and others like they’re leaking milk. There are mushrooms that drip amber goo down a tree trunk and mushrooms that have small dark tears along their gills.

Balance A good balance between production and sales is therefore essential. The aim is to have exactly the right quantity of mushrooms available at the right time to meet market demand. Only in this way can both customer satisfaction and business profitability be guaranteed. Consistent Consistent, high production levels with stable quality generally entail higher

Finding the black, finger-like growths of dead man’s fingers (Xylaria polymorpha) can be a little unnerving. They emerge from rotting stumps and at the bases of dead trees, and the fruiting bodies look like swollen, charred fingers reaching out of the wood. The mushroom grows in tight clusters of three to six fingers, and the

Fuel Your Brain with Mushrooms June is both Mushroom Month and National Brain Health Month, making it the perfect time… The post How Mushrooms Can Benefit Your Functional Health appeared first on Mushroom Council.

Among the smelliest mushrooms include ones that smell like rotting flesh, coal gas, maple syrup, apricot, curry, coconut, shrimp, and almond. The range of smells for mushrooms is vast!

There are a ton of top edible species among the summer mushrooms, including chanterelles, black trumpets, lobster mushrooms, and puffballs.

Saprotrophs, Parasites, and Mycorrhizal Fungi have different ways of sourcing their food. Learn how they operate, which mushrooms are which type of feeder, and why it matters.

Chanterelle cultivation has been tried by many folks, but so far, they aren’t available commercially. Chanterelle mushrooms are one of the top edible wild mushroom species, and they are delicious! Fruity, slightly sweet, and with a nice dense texture, there is nothing else quite like them. And, every chanterelle for sale anywhere in the world

Chicken of the woods is a big, bold warning sign for your tree. While mushroom hunters are thrilled to find these for dinner, for the tree, it means an infection has been quietly tunneling through the heartwood for years.

If you’ve ever thought about foraging or eating chicken of the woods mushrooms, you’ve probably heard the warnings about the tree it grows on or its general propensity for making you sick. These warnings are repeated in nearly every foraging guide, online mushroom group, and discussion about this species. Cook it thoroughly, eat only a

In North America, morel names are abundant, often bizarre, and more common than for just about any other edible mushroom in North America. The same morel that one forager in Vermont calls a honeycomb mushroom is a hickory chicken six states away, and a merkel or a molly moocher in the next valley over. These

Simple Summer Hosting Starts with Mushrooms  Summer dinner parties are all about easy vibes, great company and food that feels… The post Easy Summer Entertaining with Mushrooms appeared first on Mushroom Council.

Quick, easy mushroom recipes for grilling, tacos, burgers, pizza, and summer sides Looking for easy summer recipes that deliver big… The post Simple Summer Mushroom Recipes appeared first on Mushroom Council.

Burn morels are morels that fruit prolifically in conifer forests on the west coast in the spring after a fire. The fruiting is usually concentrated in the first year, and then, by the second year, the morel fruiting drops off sharply. By year three, the morels are mostly gone. This is a pattern that occurs

There are two diseases that have affected and are currently affecting eastern North American trees, which might put morels in danger. These aren’t the only trees morels grow under or with, but they are an important part of morel ecology and ultimately, their lifespan and ability to regenerate. What will happen to morels if we

The tender nesting polypore is a soft, fleshy fungus with a warm cinnamon-orange color that blends right into the dead branches it grows on. It’s easy to walk past without noticing. It isn’t edible, it’s actually toxic, but it has a long history of being used to make natural dyes. It produces some beautiful purples.

The crimped gill mushroom (Plicaturopsis crispa) is a cute, little shelf fungus that grows in dense, overlapping tiers on dead wood across North America. Its fan-shaped caps look a lot like other small bracket fungi, but underneath, there is a surprise waiting. Instead of “normal” gills, pores, or a smooth surface, there is a network

The swamp beacon looks like a tiny egg yolk balancing on a thin white matchstick as it pokes its head out of the water.

Spring mushroom season looks completely different depending on where in North America you live. Here’s exactly what mushrooms grow in spring, by region, where to find them, and when to go looking.

Usually, the first sign of artillery fungus (Sphaerobolus stellatus) is not the fungus itself; it is so small that it commonly goes unnoticed. You have to be looking for it, but more often than not, it will make itself known to you in a very annoying fashion. Artillery fungi do what their name suggests —

Easy Mushroom Breakfasts You’ll Actually Make We’re here to make sure your mornings are made better with mushrooms. Nutritious, umami-packed… The post Make Mushrooms the Star of Your Morning appeared first on Mushroom Council.

In autumn, candlesnuff fungus show up on rotting hardwood stumps — you might see tiny black stalks with white powdery tips growing in dense clusters like a handful of spent matches. These are candlesnuff fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon), and they are very common in North America. These mushrooms aren’t edible; they’re too small and have no

When you cut the cornflower bolete (Gyroporus cyanescens) in half, you see straight away how it earned its common name. The pale, straw-colored flesh turns an intense blue within seconds, and the color is very similar to that of the cornflower plant. The reaction is fast, and the deep, bright blue looks more like a

Dead man’s foot (Pisolithus arrhizus) is an ungainly, odd-looking thing that erupts from the ground with enough force to crack paved surfaces. It’s dark and lumpy and easily mistaken for a pile of animal poop or a rock or a stump — it does not look like a mushroom at all (in the traditional sense).

Finding black gelatinous blobs scattered across dead logs can be a little unsettling. They’re slimy and a bit gross, like someone dropped grape jelly on a branch or tried to coat it in tar. There are two species of black jelly-like fungi, appropriately named black witch’s butter (Exidia glandulosa) and warlock’s butter (Exidia nigricans). These

When you find Black Jelly Drops (Bulgaria inquinans), you may think you’ve discovered someone’s black licorice gumdrop stash in the forest! These fungi are jet-black, rubbery discs that cluster on the bark and wood of fallen oak logs and look, for all the world, like the candy that gives them their common name. Black jelly

The coral pink Phlebia (Phlebia incarnata) is a mushroom that might stop you in its tracks. It has vivid coral-pink caps that stand out against the gray and brown of decaying logs it grows on. It looks like a paint splash! This mushroom isn’t edible,  but it might be a great aid in cleaning up

When you think of mushrooms, what comes to mind? A favorite pizza topping? The secret to a rich, umami-packed sauce?… The post Mushrooms, the MIND Diet and Brain Health appeared first on Mushroom Council.

Take one look at this mushroom, and you can figure out super quickly how it earned its common name. The sunny side up mushroom (Bolbitius titubans) looks so much like an egg yolk perched on a slender stem, it’s a little disconcerting. This small, delicate mushroom with its bright yellow cap grows in lawns, parks,

Are you ready for this weirdo for-sure-an-alien fungus? Purple jellydisc (Ascocoryne sarcoides) is absolutely bizarre and a little creepy with its purple blobs of jelly oozing from rotting wood. While this seems strange enough, the purple jellydisc is actually even more eccentric because it literally shape-shifts throughout its life and, when mature, can be quite

Blended Mushroom Course You can complete the e-learning course at your own pace and time before attending the live training. This course introduces the basic concepts and processes involved in composting and mushroom growing, followed by questions to consolidate your learning. Immediate feedback is provided once you submit your answers. During the live training, all

The difference between a fungus and a mushroom is simple and worth knowing. Especially since these words get used interchangeably all the time.

The dog’s nose fungus (Camarops petersii) is for sure one of the most bizarre-looking fungi species found in the woods. This fungus has an uncanny resemblance to an actual dog’s nose: the surface is black, wet, shiny, and covered with tiny pimples, just like the snouts of the real thing. Maybe this is Mother Earth’s