Rogers Mushrooms | Mushroom Pictures & Mushroom Reference


	Easy key











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To help you identify a mushroom that you are unable to name, we have put together some of the field characteristics in a multi-access key form. Look through the characteristics below and click on two or three boxes that are most relevant to the specimens you are trying to identify, if that does not get you close try adding one or two more boxes.

To avoid doing a really detailed key with hundreds of questions to answer we have been rather arbitrary in restricting the choices, thus you may have a fungus that is fawn with distinct olivaceous tints, (not a colour in our key). Always go for the main colour or characteristic when forced to make this sort of choice. The most difficult group of mushrooms will always be white spored mushrooms with gills, which is by far the largest group


keywords:
key path:		If you are looking for one of the smaller fungi groups, please select 'other' from the dropdown above. You can then refine your search using the additional drop down menu which will then appear.



... and select additional criteria below:

location
	North America		Europe
edibility
	Choice		Edible	Inedible
	Hallucinogenic		Poisonous/Suspect	Deadly
fungus colour
	White to cream		Yellow	Blue
	Green		Red or redish or pink	Violet or purple
	Brown		Black or blackish	Grey to beige
	Orange
normal size
	Less than 5cm		5-15cm	over 15cm
cap type
	Conical or nearly so		Funnel shaped	Convex to shield shaped
	Distinctly scaly		Other	Cup shaped
stem type
	Lateral, rudimentary or absent		Ring on stem	Volva on stem
	Bulbous base of stem		Stem much longer than cap diameter	Simple stem
flesh
	Flesh exudes white or watery latex (milk) when cut		Flesh exudes coloured latex (milk) when cut	Flesh discolours when cut, bruised or damaged
	Mushroom has distinct or odd smell (non mushroomy)		Flesh granular or brittle	Flesh fibrous usually pliable (like grass)
	Mushroom slimy or sticky		Pore material cannot be seperated from flesh of the cap	Other
spore colour
	White, cream or yellowish		Pink	Light to dark brown
	Rusty brown		Purplish to black	Olivaceous
habitat
	Grows in woods		Grows on the ground	Found in fields, lawns or on roadsides
	Grows underground		Grows on wood	Grows on plant material/manure
	Grows on other fungi		Grows on dead insects


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