Welcome to Mushroom World
Step into the enchanting world of fungi with Mushroom World – your trusted companion for learning about mushrooms.
Whether you're a curious beginner or a seasoned nature enthusiast, our site provides clear, accessible information and beautiful images to help you better understand and appreciate the mushrooms you encounter.
If you're curious about what fungi actually are, and how they differ from plants and animals, be sure to visit our what are fungi? page for an easy-to-understand explanation.
With thousands of mushroom species known to science, we've chosen to focus on the most common and easily recognisable ones. Each entry includes helpful descriptions, identification tips, and high-quality images, and we’re always working to expand our collection with new species and updated content.
Come and explore the wonders of mushrooms with us. We hope you find our site informative, inspiring, and a valuable resource on your journey of mushroom discovery.
What you can do on Mushroom World
Browse the database
Explore mushrooms from the alphabetical list or search by name or properties.
Identify a mushroom
Know some characteristics but not the name? Use our mushroom identification helper to narrow it down.
New to identification? Start with identification basics.
Test your knowledge
Try our identification quiz and see how many mushrooms you recognise. Each run gives you new questions.
Upload your photos
Have good mushroom photos to share? Use the upload form and we will see if we can include them on the site.
Today's Mushroom
A quick highlight from our database
Today's mushroom is Amanita pantherina (Panther Amanita). It grows in North America, Europe, Western Asia.
Dimensions: Cap 5-12 cm diameter, stem 8-12 cm tall * 1-1.5 cm diameter
Description:
Amanita pantherina, also known as the Panther cap or Panther amanita, is a medium to large fleshy agaric with a brownish cap, pure white patches, white stem, ring, and bulbous base with distinct margin. It grows solitary or in small groups on soil under conifers or in mixed hardwood-conifer forests.
Cap initially domed and later flattens out, with a very finely striated margin. It is shiny brown or grey-brown and has densely distributed warts that are pure white to sordid cream in colour. These warts are minutely verruculose and can be easily removed. Gills free, close to crowded, white becoming greyish, truncate and fairly broad. Stem subcylindrical, white, becoming slightly tannish in age, stuffed then hollow, finely floccose becoming smooth above the white ring that is initially quite chunky but often becomes thin and floppy in more mature specimens, sometimes with a toothed edge. The stem tapers towards the apex and ends in a swollen basal bulb. Spore print white.
Microscopic Features: The spores are broadly ellipsoidal to ovoid in shape, with a smooth surface. They measure 8-12 µm in length and 6.7-7.5 µm in width. They are inamyloid.
Similar species include Amanita rubescens, which also can have a brownish cap but its stem and cap flesh turn pink or red when damaged.
Amanita pantherina on the First Nature Web site.
Amanita pantherina on the MushroomExpert.Com Web site.
If you are interested in this mushroom, look it up in our database for more detailed photographs and additional information.
Many mushrooms are poisonous, and some can be lethally toxic. Distinguishing between edible and poisonous mushrooms can be very challenging. Therefore, we strongly advise against consuming wild mushrooms. This website does not contain any information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms.
Although efforts have been made to ensure accuracy on this website, the information may contain errors and omissions. Therefore, all content provided is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be relied upon or used as a basis for consuming any plants or mushrooms.
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