Mushroom species
Grouped by what happens if eaten rather than by whether they are edible, because that is the information that actually protects people. No entry here should be treated as clearance to eat anything.
Can kill
These can kill. Learning them well is worth more than learning any number of edible species.
Amanita phalloides
The death cap is responsible for the majority of fatal mushroom poisonings worldwide.
Amanita bisporigera and relatives
An entirely white Amanita containing the same amatoxins as the death cap.
Gyromitra esculenta
False morels contain gyromitrin, which the body converts to a compound chemically related to rocket fuel and which damages the liver.
Galerina marginata
A small brown mushroom on wood that contains the same amatoxins as the death cap.
Seriously toxic
Serious illness — hospitalisation, sometimes organ effects. Rarely fatal in a healthy adult.
Causes illness
Gastric illness. Unpleasant rather than dangerous, though not for the frail.
No known toxins
No significant toxins documented. That is not permission — this site cannot see your specimen, and every one has a lookalike.
Cantharellus species
Chanterelles are among the most sought-after wild mushrooms and the reason many people start foraging.
Morchella species
Morels are the spring mushroom people drive hundreds of miles for.
Agaricus campestris
The wild relative of the supermarket button mushroom, found in grazed pasture and lawns.
Lycoperdon and Calvatia species
Puffballs are among the easier wild mushrooms to recognise, and there is exactly one test that matters — and it is the same test that prevents the most dangerous confusion in mycology..
Coprinus comatus
Shaggy ink caps appear overnight on lawns, verges and disturbed ground, and are unmistakable because of what they do rather than what they look like — the cap digests itself into black liquid within about 24 hours of opening..
Trametes versicolor
Turkey tail is one of the most common fungi on dead hardwood anywhere in the temperate world, and one of the easiest to recognise once you check the underside.
Pleurotus ostreatus
Oyster mushrooms grow in shelving clusters on dead and dying hardwood, particularly beech, poplar and willow.
Marasmius oreades
The mushroom that makes rings in lawns.