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What mushroom is this? Narrow it down properly.
Mushroom identification is not done by matching photographs. It is done with a spore print, a look at what is under the cap, and — the step people skip — digging the whole thing up to see the base of the stem. The cup that identifies a death cap is usually underground.
Mushroom Identifier AI — Free★ 4.0 · 4 ratings · iPhone & iPad
- Deadly lookalikes checked first
- Spore print and base of stem, properly
- Never eat on an app result alone
Read this before anything else
- Never eat a wild mushroom identified by a website or an app.That includes this one. These tools narrow possibilities; they cannot see your mushroom, its base, its smell or its habitat, and the difference between a meal and a liver transplant is sometimes a feature buried in the soil.
- Get it confirmed in person by an experienced local forager or a mycological society. Most regions have one, most run free identification sessions, and they will look at the actual specimen.
- Dig, do not pull. The cup at the base of a death cap is often underground. Pulling the mushroom leaves the most important feature in the soil.
- If someone has eaten a wild mushroom and feels unwell, call poison control now — in the US, 1-800-222-1222. Do not wait for symptoms to worsen. Amatoxin poisoning has a false recovery phase, and delayed treatment is what makes it fatal. Save any uneaten pieces for identification.
1.What is under the cap?
optionalThe first and most important branch in any mushroom key. Gills are thin blades you could peel off; ridges are blunt, forking and part of the cap flesh. Getting this wrong is how chanterelle poisonings happen.
2.What colour is the spore print?
optionalThe one test that separates several deadly species from their edible lookalikes, and it costs nothing but a few hours. Cap face down on half white and half dark paper, covered with a bowl, overnight.
3.What is it growing on?
optionalHighly diagnostic and easy to check. A mushroom on wood and a mushroom on soil are rarely the same thing, even when they look identical.
4.Any of these present?
optionalA ring and a cup at the base together mean Amanita, the genus responsible for most fatal poisonings. Dig the mushroom up rather than pulling it, or you will never see the cup.
5.What colour is the cap?
optionalLast, and it never removes anything from the list. Cap colour varies with age, weather and light, and rain washes the warts off a fly agaric entirely.
- Deadly GalerinaCan killGalerina marginata
- Death CapCan killAmanita phalloides
- Destroying AngelCan killAmanita bisporigera and relatives
- False MorelCan killGyromitra esculenta
- Fly AgaricToxicAmanita muscaria
- Jack-o'-LanternToxicOmphalotus olearius / illudens
- Honey FungusCauses illnessArmillaria species
- ChanterelleNo known toxinsCantharellus species
- Fairy Ring ChampignonNo known toxinsMarasmius oreades
- Field MushroomNo known toxinsAgaricus campestris
- MorelNo known toxinsMorchella species
- Oyster MushroomNo known toxinsPleurotus ostreatus
- PuffballNo known toxinsLycoperdon and Calvatia species
- Shaggy Ink CapNo known toxinsCoprinus comatus
- Turkey TailNo known toxinsTrametes versicolor
The pairs that cause poisonings
Almost every serious mushroom poisoning is one of a small number of specific confusions. Each page settles one with a single test.
The ones that can kill
A short list. Learning these 4 well is worth more than learning fifty edible species.
Amanita phalloides
White spore print, white gills that stay white, and a white stem.
Amanita bisporigera and relatives
Completely white — cap, gills, stem and spore print.
Gyromitra esculenta
Cap wrinkled and lobed like a brain, not pitted with a honeycomb of ridges and hollows.
Galerina marginata
Rusty brown spore print — take one, because this separates it from most of what it resembles.
The three features to find before anything else
Questions people ask
How do you identify a mushroom?
Start with what is under the cap — gills, blunt ridges, pores or teeth. Take a spore print, which takes a few hours and separates several deadly species from their edible lookalikes. Note what it is growing on, and dig the whole mushroom up to check the stem base for a cup, because that feature identifies the deadliest genus and is usually buried.
Can an app tell me if a mushroom is safe to eat?
No. No app or website should be used to decide whether a wild mushroom is edible. They narrow possibilities from a photograph and cannot assess the stem base, the smell, the habitat or the spore print. Have anything you intend to eat confirmed in person by an experienced local forager or a mycological society.
What is the most dangerous mushroom?
The death cap, Amanita phalloides, causes the majority of fatal mushroom poisonings worldwide. It has white gills, a white spore print, a ring on the stem and a membranous cup at the base, and it grows from soil near oaks in ordinary parks and gardens.
Is there an app that identifies mushrooms from a photo?
Yes — Mushroom Identifier AI, and this site is its free web companion. Read the next answer before you use either for anything you intend to eat.
Is this site free?
Yes — the key, every mushroom page and every comparison, with no account and no email. Nothing you select leaves your browser. The app is a free download for photo identification and offline reference.
What is the safest way to learn mushroom identification?
Learn the deadly genera first and learn them properly, rather than learning edibles first. Almost all fatal poisonings in North America and Europe involve a small number of species, most of them Amanita, and every one of them has a checkable signature: a volva at the base, a ring on the stem, and a white spore print. Digging up the whole base rather than cutting the stem is the single habit that catches the most dangerous mistakes.