Welcome to Mushroom World

Step into the fascinating world of mushrooms with Mushroom World - your go-to resource for fungi information. Our site is a comprehensive resource offering information and stunning images of mushrooms mainly found in Europe and North America.

Since there are thousands of known species of mushrooms, we have tried to limit those we list to the most common ones. New species are also continuously added to the site.

So come on in 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.

Below is an overview of the main features and functionalities of our site.

Browse the database

You can browse the database from the alphabetical list or search the database based on mushroom names or properties.

Help identify a mushroom

If you know the characteristics of a mushroom but need help identifying it, try using our mushroom identification helper. It is a tool designed to assist you in identifying mushrooms that you may come across.

If this site cannot help you, we recommend mushroomobserver.org, a community site for mushroom identification. There are also many Facebook groups for mushroom identification, like the public Mushroom Identification group.

Identification Quiz

We have also created a quiz where you can test your fungi identification knowledge. You can repeat the quiz as many times as you want, each time with new questions.

Upload mushroom pictures

If you have pictures of mushrooms you would like to have included on our site, please use the upload form to upload these files and we will see if we can include them.

Today's Mushroom

Today's mushroom is Pleurotus ostreatus (Oyster mushroom). It grows in Europe, North America and Asia.

Dimensions: Cap 3-14 cm diameter, stem 2-3 cm tall * 1-1.5 cm thick

Description: Pleurotus ostreatus, also known as the Oyster mushroom, is a medium to large fungus named for its shape rather than its taste. It grows almost all over the world and is fairly easily recognized by the way it grows on wood in shelf-like clusters and its whitish gills that run down a stubby, nearly-absent stem.

Cap convex with an incurved margin at first, expanding to a fan-shaped with a flat or shallowly depressed disc and inner limb. The cap colour is pale to dark brown, fading to buff, sometimes fading slowly and becoming two-toned. It may be somewhat greasy when young and fresh. The flesh is thick, white and unchanging when sliced. Gills running down the stem, crowded, whitish or with a grey tinge, becoming yellowish in age and sometimes developing brownish edges, and descend on the stalk if present. Stem off-centre with a lateral attachment to wood, whitish. It can sometimes be more or less central when growing on the tops of logs or branches. Spore print white to faintly yellowish, or pale lilac-grey.

Microscopic Features: The spores are subcylindrical to narrowly kidney-shaped, smooth, measuring 8-12.5 x 3-4.5µm.

Pleurotus ostreatus on the MushroomExpert.Com Web site.
Pleurotus ostreatus on the www.first-nature.com web site.

This site contains no information about the edibility or toxicity of the mushroom.

If you are interested in this mushroom, look it up in our database. You can find more detailed pictures there.

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.