Mushroom Identifier

Fungi encyclopedia

A reference for the fungi you actually find

Each entry describes one species the way you meet it in the field — the cap and its surface, what sits underneath, the stipe and its base, the spore print colour, the substrate it fruits from, and the species most often confused with it.

Showing results for Brown Mottlegill or Fragile Inky Cap

Franchet's Amanita

Franchet's Amanita

Gilled

A European amanita with an olive- to grey-brown cap sprinkled with soft yellow warts, a yellow-edged ring, and yellow veil belts on a swollen stem base.

Spore print · White

Deadly Galerina

Deadly Galerina

Gilled

A small brown wood-dwelling mushroom with a hygrophanous tawny cap, a membranous ring on a smooth stem, and a rusty-brown spore print.

Spore print · Rusty brown

Spring Fieldcap

Spring Fieldcap

Gilled

An early-season fieldcap of woodchip and grassy path edges, with a pale tan cap, a ring on the stipe, white mycelial cords at the base and a dark brown spore print.

Spore print · Dark snuff-brown

Alder Scalycap

Alder Scalycap

Gilled

A tufted lemon-yellow Pholiota of wet woodland that grows on alder and birch stumps, with a smooth slightly sticky cap, sweetish scent and clay-brown spore print.

Spore print · Clay-brown to rust-brown

Yellow-veiled Amanita

Yellow-veiled Amanita

Gilled

A western North American amanita with a dark brown to olive cap sprinkled with vivid golden warts, a yellow-edged ring, and yellow veil belts on the bulbous base.

Spore print · White

Verdigris Agaric

Verdigris Agaric

Gilled

A striking woodland roundhead with a slimy verdigris blue-green cap flecked with white veil scales at the margin, a scaly ringed stem and gills that mature to purple-brown.

Spore print · Purple-brown

Bronze Bolete

Bronze Bolete

Boletes

The darkest member of the porcini group, with a sooty bronze to almost black velvety cap over a brown stipe finely netted in pale lines. Flesh white and unchanging.

Spore print · Olive-brown

Stinking Brittlegill

Stinking Brittlegill

Gilled

A big, stout ochre-brown brittlegill with a slimy cap, a strongly grooved and warty margin and a heavy rancid oily smell, its stout stipe becoming chambered and hollow.

Spore print · Pale cream

Pluteus thomsonii

Pluteus thomsonii

Gilled

A small grey-brown shield mushroom whose cap is crossed by a conspicuous network of raised pale veins, with fine ridges continuing onto the stem. It grows on decaying hardwood.

Spore print · Pink to salmon-pink

Torn Fibrecap

Torn Fibrecap

Gilled

A small, drab, grey-brown fibrecap whose cap surface breaks up into ragged torn fibrils and scales. A pioneer of sandy tracks, heathland and young conifer plantations.

Spore print · Dull brown

Nameko

Nameko

Gilled

A small amber-brown East Asian Pholiota famous for the thick clear gelatinous layer coating its cap, growing in clusters on dead hardwood and widely grown on inoculated logs.

Spore print · Rusty brown

Sepia Brittlegill

Sepia Brittlegill

Gilled

A dull sepia-brown brittlegill of grassy parkland and path edges, recognised by its strongly ridged cap margin and strong unpleasant odour. It is typically found under oak and lime.

Spore print · Cream

Red Cracking Bolete

Boletes

A small woodland bolete whose dull brown cap cracks into a mosaic with pinkish-red flesh showing in the fissures. Yellow pores bruise blue-green and the stipe is red-streaked.

Spore print · Olive-brown

Golden-edge Bonnet

Golden-edge Bonnet

Gilled

A small conifer-litter bonnet whose dull olive-brown cap hides gills bordered with brilliant orange edges. The orange tone is repeated on the stipe and its basal hairs.

Spore print · White

Hebeloma mesophaeum

Hebeloma mesophaeum

Gilled

A small two-toned Hebeloma with a dark brown cap centre, a paler margin hung with white veil fibrils, and a faint veil zone on the stipe. A pioneer of disturbed and planted ground.

Spore print · Snuff-brown

Cinnamon Bracket

Cinnamon Bracket

Polypores

A soft, evenly cinnamon-coloured bracket whose cap, flesh and pores are all the same warm ochre-brown, and which turns brilliant violet where a drop of alkali touches it.

Spore print · White

Aspen Scaber Stalk

Aspen Scaber Stalk

Boletes

A North American scaber stalk of aspen groves, with an orange-brown cap, dark scabers even when young, and pale flesh that greys and takes on lilac tones when cut.

Spore print · Ochre-brown

Scaly Shield

Scaly Shield

Gilled

A large pale shield mushroom whose whitish cap carries brown fibrillose scales over the centre, with free gills flushing pink and a stout ringless stem. It favours sawdust and mulch.

Spore print · Pink to salmon-pink

Oakbug Milkcap

Oakbug Milkcap

Gilled

An abundant oak-associated milkcap with a dull cinnamon-brown, faintly banded cap and a heavy oily odour. Its creamy white latex does not change colour but dries brownish on the gills.

Spore print · Pale cream with pinkish tint

Freckled Dapperling

Freckled Dapperling

Gilled

A stout dapperling of nettle beds and rich ground, its dry ochre-brown cap bristling with erect pyramidal spines that rub off at a touch and its gills forking near the stem.

Spore print · White

Crab Brittlegill

Crab Brittlegill

Gilled

A robust brittlegill with a dark wine-red cap, ochre gills and a stipe flushed pink that browns wherever it is handled, accompanied by a strong smell of shellfish.

Spore print · Ochre

Dark Fieldcap

Dark Fieldcap

Gilled

A sombre brown woodland fieldcap with a greasy, wrinkling cap and a persistent membranous ring that stains dark from falling spores. It grows on rich, often calcareous soil along shaded woodland paths.

Spore print · Dark brown

Birch Milkcap

Birch Milkcap

Gilled

A small tawny orange-brown birch associate with a matt, slightly wrinkled cap and a small pointed umbo. Its scanty white latex slowly turns yellow when smeared on a white tissue.

Spore print · Pale cream

The Prince

The Prince

Gilled

One of the largest field mushrooms, with a squarish young cap patterned in fine golden-brown fibrous scales, a big pendulous ring and flesh that yellows slowly where handled. It smells strongly of almonds.

Spore print · Dark brown