Macrofungi

Covers mushrooms and other non-lichenized fungi that form multicellular fruiting bodies large enough to be seen with the unaided eye.

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Common names beginning with M:
Ma'am on motorcycle (Leucoagaricus leucothites)
Habitat: It is a widespread mushroom that occurs mostly in grassy areas, gardens, and other human-influenced habitats, but also occasionally in forests.
Maitake (Grifola frondosa)
Velvet-cap Marasmius (Marasmius plicatulus)
White Marasmius (Marasmiellus candidus)
American matsutake (Tricholoma magnivelare)
Distribution: . It occurs throughout much of North America, but is most abundant on the West Coast, usually appearing scattered to gregarious under conifers on nutrient-poor soils such as dune sands.
Origin: Native
Matsutake (Tricholoma magnivelare)
Distribution: . It occurs throughout much of North America, but is most abundant on the West Coast, usually appearing scattered to gregarious under conifers on nutrient-poor soils such as dune sands.
Origin: Native
White matsutake (Tricholoma magnivelare)
Distribution: . It occurs throughout much of North America, but is most abundant on the West Coast, usually appearing scattered to gregarious under conifers on nutrient-poor soils such as dune sands.
Origin: Native
Maze-gill fungus (Daedalea quercina)
Oak maze-gill (Daedalea quercina)
Common mazegill (Datronia mollis)
Conifer mazegill (Gloeophyllum sepiarium)
Dyer's mazegill (Phaeolus schweinitzii)
Habitat: Terrestrial, at the root of living conifers
Changeable Melanoleuca (Melanoleuca melaleuca)
Dark Melanoleuca (Melanoleuca melaleuca)
Peach-gilled Melanoleuca (Melanoleuca cognata)
Spores: large spores (7.5--10 x 4.5--6.5 µm)
Trembling Merulius (Phlebia tremellosa)
Habitat: mainly a fall fungus and occurs on stumps, logs, and woody debris of both hardwoods and conifers
Mica-cap (Coprinellus micaceus)
Habitat: Hardwood stumps, buried roots, and other organic debris.
Bleeding milk-cap (Lactarius rubrilacteus)
Habitat: It occurs in a variety of habitats and seems to associate primarily with pines and Douglas-fir, especially in younger stands.
Bright yellow milk-cap (Lactarius aspideoides)
Delicious milk-cap (Lactarius deliciosus)
Distribution: Broad North America and Europe
Golden milk-cap (Lactarius alnicola)
Gray milk-cap (Lactarius caespitosus)
Orange milk-cap (Lactarius subflammeus)
Distribution: Coastal
Habitat: Coastal conifer forests
Ordinary milk-cap (Lactarius trivialis)
Pale-capped violet-latex milk-cap (Lactarius pallescens)
Pitted milk-cap (Lactarius scrobiculatus)
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: common in our conifer forests
Purple staining milk-cap (Lactarius uvidus)
Red hot milk-cap (Lactarius rufus)
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: L. rufus commonly occurs with spruce and pine, often in abundance, for example, near the edge of bogs or in other moist areas where Sitka spruce occurs. It is very common in northern conifer forests around the world.
Red milk-cap (Lactarius rufus)
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: L. rufus commonly occurs with spruce and pine, often in abundance, for example, near the edge of bogs or in other moist areas where Sitka spruce occurs. It is very common in northern conifer forests around the world.
Scrobiculate milk-cap (Lactarius scrobiculatus)
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: common in our conifer forests
Slimy milk-cap (Lactarius pseudomucidus)
Distribution: Broad Western North America
Habitat: L. pseudomucidus is frequently found in coastal and mid-elevation conifer forests, and eastward at least as far as Idaho and southward into California.
Sticky milk-cap (Lactarius affinis)
Toadskin milk-cap (Lactarius olivaceoumbrinus)
Velvety milk-cap (Lactarius fallax)
Habitat: Litter in spruce and mixed conifer forests along the coast and in the interior mountains
Alder milkcap (Lactarius occidentalis)
Distribution: Western Northern Hemisphere
Habitat: Occurs with alders
False saffron milkcap (Lactarius deterrimus)
Liver milkcap (Lactarius hepaticus)
Rollrim milkcap (Lactarius resimus)
Rufous milkcap (Lactarius rufus)
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: L. rufus commonly occurs with spruce and pine, often in abundance, for example, near the edge of bogs or in other moist areas where Sitka spruce occurs. It is very common in northern conifer forests around the world.
The miller (Clitopilus prunulus)
Distribution: Widely distributed in conifer as well as deciduous hardwood forests.
Habitat: Conifer and hardwood forests.
Fir-needle Mitrula (Heyderia abietis)
Distribution: Uncommon
Habitat: Occurs in scattered groups on conifer needles.
Amanita mold (Hypomyces hyalinus)
Decorated mop (Tricholomopsis decora)
Variegated mop (Tricholomopsis rutilans)
Beefsteak morel (Gyromitra esculenta)
Bell morel (Verpa conica)
Distribution: It is a widespread but uncommon species that fruits early in the spring in a variety of habitats including montane conifer forests.
Black morel (Morchella elata)
Origin: Native
California false morel (Gyromitra californica)
Conifer false morel (Gyromitra esculenta)
Early bell morel (Verpa bohemica)
Origin: Native
Early morel (Verpa bohemica)
Origin: Native
False morel (Gyromitra esculenta)
Hooded false morel (Gyromitra infula)
Natural black morel (Morchella brunnea)
Northwest landscape morel (Morchella importuna)
Saddle-shaped false morel (Gyromitra infula)
Snyder's morel (Morchella snyderi)
Thimble morel (Verpa conica)
Distribution: It is a widespread but uncommon species that fruits early in the spring in a variety of habitats including montane conifer forests.
Umbrella false morel (Gyromitra californica)
Western half-free morel (Morchella populiphila)
Wrinkled thimble morel (Verpa bohemica)
Origin: Native
Orange mosscap (Rickenella fibula)
Distribution: It occurs in mossy forest habitats but also is a common urban mushroom, occurring in small to large groups in mossy lawns of homes, parks, and similar habitats.
Brown mottlegill (Panaeolina foenisecii)
Egghead mottlegill (Panaeolus semiovatus)
Petticoat mottlegill (Panaeolus papilionaceus)
Wood mulberry (Bertia moriformis)
Anise mushroom (Clitocybe deceptiva)
Apricot jelly mushroom (Guepinia helvelloides)
Ashy coral mushroom (Clavulina cinerea)
Description: Clavulina cristata has lilac-grayish coloration, wrinkled branched, and less developed branching.
Big laughing mushroom (Gymnopilus junonius)
Big laughing mushroom (Gymnopilus ventricosus)
Habitat: Rotting logs, snags, or stumps
Blue-green anise mushroom (Clitocybe odora)
Blushing wood mushroom (Agaricus silvaticus)
Brain mushroom (Gyromitra esculenta)
Button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)
Description: Generally brown cap with flat feathery scales. Gills begin as pink but turn chocolate-brown. Stem is white and smooth with a slight ring. Flesh may turn pink when cut.
Habitat: parks, gardens, roadsides.
Candied red jelly mushroom (Guepinia helvelloides)
Chicken mushroom (Laetiporus conifericola)
Habitat: living trees, logs, stumps, snags, and even utility poles.
Commercial mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)
Description: Generally brown cap with flat feathery scales. Gills begin as pink but turn chocolate-brown. Stem is white and smooth with a slight ring. Flesh may turn pink when cut.
Habitat: parks, gardens, roadsides.
Common field mushroom (Agaricus campestris)
Description: The popular edible meadow mushroom, as both its scientific and common names suggest, is usually found in fields or pastures (campestris means growing in a field in Latin), especially those rich in manure. The largest fruitings tend to occur when warm and wet weather coincide. It is a stocky, medium-sized, clean white mushroom with bright pink gills when young (another common name is pink bottom); however, as it ages it tends to become brown overall with dark chocolate gills. The cap may be somewhat fibrillose to scaly and, typically, the cuticle extends past the margin, like an overhanging table-cloth. The ring usually is thin and not persistent, and the base of the stipe often is tapered. It occurs nearly worldwide.
Distribution: Worldwide
Habitat: Found in fields or pastures, especially those rich in manure
Cucumber-scented mushroom (Macrocystidia cucumis)
Distribution: Usually found in nutrient-rich soils among herbaceous plants in gardens and parks rather than in forests (although it can occur there, usually along trailsides).
Cultivated mushroom (Agaricus bisporus)
Description: Generally brown cap with flat feathery scales. Gills begin as pink but turn chocolate-brown. Stem is white and smooth with a slight ring. Flesh may turn pink when cut.
Habitat: parks, gardens, roadsides.
Douglas fir cone mushroom (Strobilurus trullisatus)
Distribution: Broad
Substrate: Well rotted Douglas fir cones
Spores: small (3--6 x 1.5--3.5 µm) non-amyloid spores
Dung mushroom (Psilocybe merdaria)
Substrate: Horse dung
Spores: April-October
Fairy ring mushroom (Marasmius oreades)
Distribution: The most common species in the PNW, M. oreades, occurs in many parts of the world in lawns, parks, pastures, and other grassy areas, where it often grows in arcs or circles known as fairy rings.
Fawn mushroom (Pluteus cervinus)
Distribution: Grows on a variety of woody substrates, including sawdust and wood chips, and can be found throughout the year when temperature and moisture are conducive. It often is one of the early spring species at lower elevations.
Fawn-colored mushroom (Pluteus cervinus)
Distribution: Grows on a variety of woody substrates, including sawdust and wood chips, and can be found throughout the year when temperature and moisture are conducive. It often is one of the early spring species at lower elevations.
Felt-ringed mushroom (Agaricus hondensis)
Description: Agaricus hondensis is a medium to large toxic species, with an often pink-tinged, fibrillose cap that darkens with age, solid flesh, smooth stipe, and a large thick (“felty”) ring. The gills are grayish to pale pinkish when young, and the stipe base usually bruises light chrome yellow and exhibits a phenolic odor when the flesh is crushed.
Habitat: Occurs primarily in forests, seems to be restricted to the Pacific Coast, and is more common in California than it is in the PNW.
Field mushroom (Agaricus campestris)
Description: The popular edible meadow mushroom, as both its scientific and common names suggest, is usually found in fields or pastures (campestris means growing in a field in Latin), especially those rich in manure. The largest fruitings tend to occur when warm and wet weather coincide. It is a stocky, medium-sized, clean white mushroom with bright pink gills when young (another common name is pink bottom); however, as it ages it tends to become brown overall with dark chocolate gills. The cap may be somewhat fibrillose to scaly and, typically, the cuticle extends past the margin, like an overhanging table-cloth. The ring usually is thin and not persistent, and the base of the stipe often is tapered. It occurs nearly worldwide.
Distribution: Worldwide
Habitat: Found in fields or pastures, especially those rich in manure
Forest mushroom (Agaricus silvaticus)
Gypsy mushroom (Cortinarius caperatus)
Distribution: Common in certain years in the PNW, but becomes less abundant inland and to the south
Haymaker's mushroom (Panaeolina foenisecii)
Hedgehog mushroom (Hericium erinaceus)
Hedgehog mushroom (Hydnum repandum)
Honey mushroom (Armillaria cepistipes)
Honey mushroom (Armillaria gallica)
Description: A. gallica, probably the most common honey mushroom east of the Rockies, appears to occur only rarely in the PNW. It has a white cobwebby veil, pinkish brown coloration, and bulbous-based stipe, and occurs singly or in groups, not clusters, on or near logs, stumps, or bases of broad-leaved trees such as willow.
Honey mushroom (Armillaria nabsnona)
Description: A. nabsnona was named only in 1996, and so is not widely recognized by mushroom-hunters; thus, it is probably more common than we think. It has a reddish brown smooth cap, stipe that is pale in the upper portion and gradually darkens downward, and grows singly or in groups, but not clusters, in fall or spring on the wood of broad-leaved trees, especially alder. It is thought to be restricted to the Pacific Coast and little is known about its edibility.
Honey mushroom (Armillaria ostoyae)
Description: A. ostoyae probably is our most common honey mushroom. It usually grows in clusters, mostly on conifers, but also on broad-leaved trees and shrubs such as willow and salmonberry; both the clusters and the individual mushrooms can be quite large. The caps are brown and usually covered with dark scales, a fairly well defined brownish ring is present on most fuitbodies, and the stipes often taper to pointed bases where they fuse in clusters. At other times, the bases may be somewhat enlarged.
Habitat: Under conifers
Honey mushroom (Armillaria sinapina)
Horse mushroom (Agaricus arvensis)
Description: Gives off a smell of aniseed or almonds when young. Flesh is white to cream but bruises yellow. Cap is smooth to slightly scaly while the stem is smooth with a ring. Gills start out grayish-pink but become chocolate-brown.
Habitat: grasslands and pastures
Hot-bed mushroom (Agaricus campestris)
Description: The popular edible meadow mushroom, as both its scientific and common names suggest, is usually found in fields or pastures (campestris means growing in a field in Latin), especially those rich in manure. The largest fruitings tend to occur when warm and wet weather coincide. It is a stocky, medium-sized, clean white mushroom with bright pink gills when young (another common name is pink bottom); however, as it ages it tends to become brown overall with dark chocolate gills. The cap may be somewhat fibrillose to scaly and, typically, the cuticle extends past the margin, like an overhanging table-cloth. The ring usually is thin and not persistent, and the base of the stipe often is tapered. It occurs nearly worldwide.
Distribution: Worldwide
Habitat: Found in fields or pastures, especially those rich in manure
Imperial mushroom (Catathelasma imperiale)
June mushroom (Gymnopus dryophilus)
Spores: whitish to pale yellow, smooth, and do not react in Melzer’s reagent
Lobster mushroom (Hypomyces lactifluorum)
Distribution: Broad Broad
Substrate: Hypomyces lactifluorum, the lobster mushroom, grows in the tissue of certain russulas and lactariuses in the PNW, especially R. brevipes, and turns the host mushroom into a dense mass of mummified tissue.
Magic mushroom (Psilocybe semilanceata)
Description: Slimy, narrowly conical, brown to tan cap with brownish gills and smooth, off-white stalk; in pastures and manured areas.
Habitat: Scattered to numerous, in tall grass and grassy hummocks in cow pastures.
Spores: Late August to November
Manzanita mushroom (Leccinum manzanitae)
Habitat: Associated with Arbutus and Arctostaphylos.
Substrate: Soil.
March mushroom (Hygrophorus marzuolus)
Meadow muffin mushroom (Psilocybe coprophila)
Description: Sticky, brownish cap with brown gills and yellowish-brown stalk
Habitat: Singled to numerous, on horse or cow dung.
Spores: June-October
Meadow mushroom (Agaricus campestris)
Description: The popular edible meadow mushroom, as both its scientific and common names suggest, is usually found in fields or pastures (campestris means growing in a field in Latin), especially those rich in manure. The largest fruitings tend to occur when warm and wet weather coincide. It is a stocky, medium-sized, clean white mushroom with bright pink gills when young (another common name is pink bottom); however, as it ages it tends to become brown overall with dark chocolate gills. The cap may be somewhat fibrillose to scaly and, typically, the cuticle extends past the margin, like an overhanging table-cloth. The ring usually is thin and not persistent, and the base of the stipe often is tapered. It occurs nearly worldwide.
Distribution: Worldwide
Habitat: Found in fields or pastures, especially those rich in manure
Mower's mushroom (Panaeolina foenisecii)
Pavement mushroom (Agaricus bitorquis)
Pine mushroom (Tricholoma magnivelare)
Distribution: . It occurs throughout much of North America, but is most abundant on the West Coast, usually appearing scattered to gregarious under conifers on nutrient-poor soils such as dune sands.
Origin: Native
Pinecone mushroom (Auriscalpium vulgare)
Description: Auriscalpium vulgare is an unmistakable, but usually inconspicuous, fungus. It is small, dark brown, hairy, and the stipe is lateral. Current evidence suggests it is related to the gilled fungus Lentinellus, the coralloid Clavicorona, the poroid Albatrellus, and other relatives of the russulas, including the fellow spine-fungus, Hericium. The species epithet, “vulgare,” means common, and attests to the wide distribution of the fungus in much of North America, Europe, and temperate Asia.
Habitat: Auriscalpium vulgare is found primarily on (often buried) Douglas-fir cones in the PNW. Elsewhere it can often be found on the cones of pine or occasionally spruce.
Substrate: Fallen or buried cones
Pink-tipped coral mushroom (Ramaria botrytis)
Pleated mushroom (Marasmius plicatulus)
Prairie mushroom (Agaricus arvensis)
Description: Gives off a smell of aniseed or almonds when young. Flesh is white to cream but bruises yellow. Cap is smooth to slightly scaly while the stem is smooth with a ring. Gills start out grayish-pink but become chocolate-brown.
Habitat: grasslands and pastures
Red-staining mushroom (Agaricus silvaticus)
Rosy wood mushroom (Agaricus semotus)
Salt-loving mushroom (Agaricus bernardii)
Description: Stout and white to being with but usually develops grayish cracks or scales on cap. Gills begin pink and turn chocolate-brown. Stipe has an upturned ring and a sock-like base. Flesh turns reddish brown when cut and may develop a fishy or briny smell.
Habitat: grasslands, roadsides, seashores, and road-salt runoff areas
Sand mushroom (Tricholoma populinum)
Scaly wood mushroom (Agaricus silvaticus)
Shrimp mushroom (Russula xerampelina)
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: Variety of forest types
Sidewalk mushroom (Agaricus bitorquis)
Slim anise mushroom (Clitocybe fragrans)
Slime mushroom (Limacella glischra)
Smooth thimble mushroom (Verpa conica)
Distribution: It is a widespread but uncommon species that fruits early in the spring in a variety of habitats including montane conifer forests.
Snow mushroom (Gyromitra montana)
Distribution: Occurs in early summer, often near melting snowbanks.
Spruce-cone mushroom (Baeospora myosura)
Description: Small, tan to whitish cap with crowded, white gills and white to brownish stalk; on fallen conifer cones
Substrate: Spruce and Douglas fir cones
Spores: September to October
Sweetbread mushroom (Clitopilus prunulus)
Distribution: Widely distributed in conifer as well as deciduous hardwood forests.
Habitat: Conifer and hardwood forests.
Sylvan mushroom (Agaricus silvaticus)
Sylvan mushroom (Agaricus silvicola)
Description: The key features of Agaricus silvicola are its medium-large size, overall whitish color, tendency to stain yellow on cap and stipe, pleasant (though sometimes very faint) anise odor, and occurrence in forests (silvicola is Latin for forest-inhabiting). It is probably the most frequently encountered agaricus in our woodlands. The name A. abruptibulbus has been applied to forms with bulbous stipe bases, but variation in stipe shape is so great that use of this name has been largely abandoned.
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: Forests and woodlands
Veiled oyster mushroom (Pleurotus dryinus)
Habitat: Temperate forests with a hardwood component.
Substrate: Hardwoods, especially oak and maple.
Spores: Early fall.
Western cone mushroom (Strobilurus occidentalis)
White jelly mushroom (Pseudohydnum gelatinosum)
Winter mushroom (Flammulina velutipes)
Wood mushroom (Agaricus silvaticus)
Wood mushroom (Agaricus silvicola)
Description: The key features of Agaricus silvicola are its medium-large size, overall whitish color, tendency to stain yellow on cap and stipe, pleasant (though sometimes very faint) anise odor, and occurrence in forests (silvicola is Latin for forest-inhabiting). It is probably the most frequently encountered agaricus in our woodlands. The name A. abruptibulbus has been applied to forms with bulbous stipe bases, but variation in stipe shape is so great that use of this name has been largely abandoned.
Distribution: Broad
Habitat: Forests and woodlands
Yellow-bulbed mushroom (Agaricus semotus)
Zeller's mushroom (Tricholoma zelleri)
Alder Mycena (Mycena alnicola)
Bleeding Mycena (Mycena haematopus)
Substrate: The fruitbodies grow in groups, often in loose clusters, on both hardwood and conifer logs and can get quite large (for a mycena).
Spores: spores are broadly ellipsoid, 7--12 x 4--7 µm
Burn site Mycena (Myxomphalia maura)
Substrate: M. maura occurs on charred earth or burned wood under conifers or in fire pits, appearing from early summer late into fall.
Spores: white, smooth to roughened, and amyloid
Candy-corn mycena (Atheniella aurantiidisca)
Distribution: Coniferous forests in western North America.
Habitat: Coniferous forests with Pseudotsuga, Tsuga and Pinus.
Substrate: Soil.
Common Mycena (Mycena galericulata)
Common Mycena (Mycena vulgaris)
Coral spring mycena (Mycena acicula)
Flame Mycena (Mycena strobilinoides)
Distribution: It occurs less commonly elsewhere in northern North America and also in Europe. M. strobilinoides seems to be most common at mid-elevations in the mountains, often in association with pines.
Large mycena (Mycena overholtsii)
Distribution: M. overholtsii apparently is restricted to the mountains of western North America. M. overholtsii appears in the mountains in late spring to early summer on wet rotting stumps and logs recently exposed by, or still partially covered with, melting snow.
Spores: spores measure 5--8 x 3.5--4 µm, and the sometimes hard-to-see cheilocystidia are smooth, slender, and cylindrical or sometimes a bit club-shaped
Lilac Mycena (Mycena pura)
Milky Mycena (Mycena galopus)
Neutral gray Mycena (Mycena subcana)
Red-orange Mycena (Mycena strobilinoides)
Distribution: It occurs less commonly elsewhere in northern North America and also in Europe. M. strobilinoides seems to be most common at mid-elevations in the mountains, often in association with pines.
Reddish-spotted Mycena (Mycena maculata)
Distribution: M. maculata grows in groups or clusters on wood of both hardwoods and conifers in North America and Europe, mostly on conifers in the PNW.
Spores: spores are ellipsoid, 7--10 x 4--6 µm, and, although not conspicuous, the cheilocystidia are of varied shape and often bear projections
Slippery Mycena (Roridomyces roridus)
Terrestrial bleeding Mycena (Mycena sanguinolenta)
Toque Mycena (Mycena galericulata)
Yellow-edged Mycena (Mycena citrinomarginata)
Distribution: Wide variety of habitats, including under trees in forests and parks, among fallen leaves, in the midst of mosses, on rotting tree bark, and in city-dwellers’ lawns.
Spores: 8--12 x 4--5.5 µm