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 Possibly a Marasmius or similar small gilled mushroom

Liberty Cap

Gilled

A small, slender grassland mushroom with a sharply conical cap ending in a distinct nipple, a separable gelatinous cap skin, a wavy thin stem and a dark purple-brown spore print.

Spore print · Dark purple-brown

Cedarwood Waxcap

Cedarwood Waxcap

Gilled

A small pure-white grassland waxcap with broadly decurrent gills and a distinctive scent of cedar pencil shavings.

Spore print · White

Hebeloma crustuliniforme

Hebeloma crustuliniforme

Gilled

A pale clay-coloured woodland mushroom with crowded brown-maturing gills whose edges bead with droplets in humid weather, and a strong radish-like odour.

Spore print · Snuff-brown

Shaggy Mane

Shaggy Mane

Gilled

A tall white cylindrical mushroom covered in shaggy upturned scales, whose gills blacken and dissolve into an inky liquid from the cap margin upward as it matures.

Spore print · Black

Petticoat Mottlegill

Petticoat Mottlegill

Gilled

A tall, slim dung mushroom with a grey bell-shaped cap edged in white veil fragments and strongly mottled black gills.

Spore print · Black

Spindleshank

Spindleshank

Gilled

Tough, clustered mushrooms at the foot of oaks, with rust-spotted gills and a distinctive grooved, spindle-shaped stem that tapers into a twisted root.

Spore print · White

Redlead Roundhead

Redlead Roundhead

Gilled

An unmistakable scarlet to orange-red mushroom of woodchip mulch, with a sticky cap, whitish fibrillose stem and dark purple-brown gills.

Spore print · Purple-brown

Velvet Shield

Velvet Shield

Gilled

A handsome dark shield mushroom with a network of raised brown veins and scales across the cap and gills edged in a distinct dark brown fringe. It grows on decaying hardwood.

Spore print · Pink to salmon-pink

The Deceiver

The Deceiver

Gilled

A hugely variable pinkish-tan woodland mushroom named for its shifting appearance, identified by thick, widely spaced flesh-pink gills and a fibrous twisted stem.

Spore print · White

Violet Webcap

Violet Webcap

Gilled

A large, sombre, dark violet woodland mushroom with a dry felty cap, violet gills that rust over with maturity, and a cobwebby veil linking cap margin to stem.

Spore print · Rusty brown

Golden Trumpet

Golden Trumpet

Gilled

A tiny tawny-orange mushroom with decurrent veined gills and a wiry dark stem, fruiting in dense swarms on mossy conifer logs and stumps.

Spore print · Pale buff to white

Common Funnel

Common Funnel

Gilled

A slender, pinkish-buff woodland mushroom whose thin cap develops a deep central funnel above crowded white decurrent gills.

Spore print · White

Giant Funnel

Giant Funnel

Gilled

A massive white funnel-shaped mushroom of open grassland that forms huge fairy rings, with tough flesh and very crowded decurrent gills.

Spore print · White

Ruddy Panus

Ruddy Panus

Gilled

A tough, densely hairy little funnel- or fan-shaped mushroom in tan to rusty tones, with crowded decurrent gills that are lilac-tinted when fresh and fade to buff with age.

Spore print · White

Pleated Inkcap

Pleated Inkcap

Gilled

A tiny, exquisitely pleated grey mushroom that opens like a paper parasol on lawns after rain and collapses by the afternoon. Its gills attach to a collar rather than the stipe.

Spore print · Black

Flame Shield

Flame Shield

Gilled

A rare and vivid shield mushroom with a scarlet to orange cap that fades to yellow, free gills turning pink, and a slender pale stem yellowing at the base. It fruits on rotting hardwood.

Spore print · Pink to salmon-pink

Fuzzy Foot

Fuzzy Foot

Gilled

A tiny orange-brown bell-shaped mushroom that erupts in enormous swarms across mossy conifer logs, recognised by decurrent veined gills and a tuft of tawny fuzz at the stipe base.

Spore print · White

Brown Roll-rim

Brown Roll-rim

Gilled

A dull ochre-brown mushroom with a persistently inrolled, felty cap margin and decurrent gills that bruise dark brown and peel away from the cap flesh.

Spore print · Yellow-brown to sienna

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

Lion Shield

Lion Shield

Gilled

A slender golden-yellow shield mushroom with a velvety wrinkled cap centre, a finely lined margin and free gills that flush pink. It fruits on decaying deciduous wood.

Spore print · Pink to salmon-pink

Bloodred Webcap

Bloodred Webcap

Gilled

A small webcap coloured deep blood-red throughout, cap, gills and stipe alike, fruiting among mosses in damp spruce and pine forest.

Spore print · Rusty brown

Goldenhaired Inkcap

Goldenhaired Inkcap

Gilled

A small ochre-brown inkcap whose young cap is speckled with golden-brown veil granules; the gills blacken and deliquesce as the fruit body ages.

Spore print · Black

Common Fieldcap

Common Fieldcap

Gilled

A small ringless fieldcap of short turf, with a smooth hemispherical ochre-tan cap, slender pale stipe and dark brown gills and spore print.

Spore print · Dark brown

Mild Milkcap

Mild Milkcap

Gilled

A small, abundant reddish-brown milkcap of beech litter with a dry unzoned cap, crowded pale gills and copious white latex that dries whey-like on the gills. It often fruits in large troops beneath mature beech.

Spore print · Cream to pale buff