The toxin orellanine is found in several webcap mushrooms in the genus Cortinarius. This toxin is extremely dangerous because it can cause kidney failure, but even more dangerous is the fact that the signs of poisoning may take a few days up to two weeks to appear. The delay makes it easy for a person […]

The pale brittlestem (Candolleomyces candolleanus) is a widespread and common mushroom in North America that grows near recently dead hardwood trees, their roots, and their stumps. It grows in lawns, pastures, cultivated ground, urban areas, and the woods, which means it’s also commonly encountered. Its edibility is questionable, with some guides listing it as okay

Muscarine is a poison that a lot of mushrooms make, and it is widely regarded as the first mushroom toxin to be identified. It is a very widespread toxin, too, and is found in mushrooms growing in lawns, parks, and yards across the US. Many of the several hundred fibercap species in the genus Inocybe

By Maya Han, Cultural Programmer for New York Mycological Society Article from The Mycophily Quarterly, April, May, June 2026 Artwork from Daughters of the Forest. Photos in this article are stills from the film unless otherwise noted. In the riveting opening scene of the film Daughters of the Forest, two women—one a wizened centenarian and the

By Avery Stempel, Medicinal Mushrooms Committee Article from The Mycophily Quarterly, April, May, June 2026 “Every life comes to an end, when time demands it. A loss of life is to be mourned, but only if the life were wasted…” Time-traveling Dr. Spock in Star Trek, the Animated Series, Season 1, Episode 2 It was quiet,

By Oliver Filialuna and Dr. Andrew Wilson Article from The Mycophily Quarterly, April, May, June 2026 Research leader Dr. Amy Rossman and Collections Manager Shannon Dominick pull specimens from among the million plus comprising the U.S. National Fungus Collections (photo: Peggy Greb). The mycelial network is abuzz with news of a troubling possibility: the decommissioning

If you have never attended a mushroom foray, imagine part field trip, part outdoor classroom, part biodiversity survey and part reunion of people who become unusually excited about finding fungi. A foray is an organized excursion in which participants search for and study mushrooms and other fungi in a particular area. The day often begins

Wild mushrooms can be fascinating to study and, in the case of correctly identified edible species, enjoyable to cook. They also demand respect. There is no single visual rule that separates edible mushrooms from poisonous ones. Color, insect damage, smell and folklore are not reliable tests of edibility. That is why accurate identification matters. When

Mushrooms make extraordinary photographic subjects. They can be brilliantly colorful or nearly invisible. Some tower above the forest floor while others are only a few millimeters across. Gills, pores, scales, droplets, translucent caps and intricate textures offer almost endless possibilities for photography. You do not need expensive equipment to begin. A modern smartphone is capable

You do not have to wait for the perfect combination of rainfall, temperature and forest habitat to watch mushrooms develop. You can grow them yourself. Home mushroom cultivation offers a fascinating way to experience fungal biology at close range. Instead of encountering only the fruiting body, growers can watch mycelium colonize a substrate and eventually

Finding an interesting mushroom in the forest can be exciting. But what if that discovery could still be useful to scientists decades from now? That is the idea behind a voucher specimen. A voucher is a carefully documented physical specimen preserved as a permanent scientific record. In mycology, the process generally begins in the field.

Why Mushrooms Are Your Go-To for Flavorful, Easy Meals You don’t always need more ingredients to make food taste better.… The post The Most Useful Ingredient in Your Fridge appeared first on Mushroom Council.

A fibercap is a small brown mushroom with a cone-shaped cap covered in fine hairs, like a little straw hat. These mushrooms grow on the ground and are extremely common and quite difficult to identify. The fibercap is one of the quintessential LBMs of the mushroom world (little brown mushrooms).

The Asian beauty fungus (Radulomyces copelandii) looks like a white shag carpet growing out of the cracks of tree bark. This crust fungus is often confused with Hericium species (Lion’s Mane, Bear’s Head, and Coral Tooth) because it has hundreds of slender white spines on its surface. From a few feet away, the patch looks

Finding true turkey tail to gather for medicine requires a forager to know the lookalikes and be aware of the top key identification features to verify they’ve found the real thing. True turkey tail is touted for immune support and as an add-on to cancer treatment.

Most people think of Italy when they think of a truffle, but there are quite a few incredible edible truffle species in North America, too. Truffles aren’t much to look at, they’re like small lumpy potatoes buried in the dirt. But these aromatic little fungi balls are literal forest treasures. They can be hard to

Finding the amethyst deceiver (Laccaria amethystina “complex”) when it is young and bright purple is a treat. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stay that vivid color as it gets older and is often overlooked because it is rather pale and bland-looking. Seeing a young one and an old one side by side, it is hard to believe

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

Get more out of your mushrooms. Whether you’re adding them to weeknight dinners, lunchbox meals, or quick breakfasts, a few… The post The Easy Guide to Making the Most of Mushrooms Every Day appeared first on Mushroom Council.

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