Welcome to Mushroom World
Step into the fascinating world of mushrooms with Mushroom World – your go-to resource for fungi information. Our site offers clear information and beautiful images of mushrooms.
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.
Since there are thousands of known species of mushrooms, we have limited our database to the most common ones. New species are also continuously added to the site.
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 Lactarius helvus (Poison Lactarius). It grows in Europe, North America.
Dimensions: Cap 4-10 cm diameter; stem 3-6 cm tall * 1-2.3 cm diameter
Description:
Lactarius helvus, also known as the Poison Lactarius, is a medium-sized to large agaric with a spicy smell reminiscent of curry. It features a beige or light grey cap, buff gills, and exudes colourless, transparent milk. It typically grows solitarily or in scattered groups on the soil under conifers (rarely birch) in wet and boggy areas.
Cap velvety, initially slightly convex, becoming funnel-shaped as it matures and often has a faint zonate (bull's-eye) pattern, beige or light grey at the margins and darkening toward the centre. It has an inrolled margin when young. Gills attached to the stem or beginning to run down it, first cream-coloured, then darkening to ochre-yellow. The flesh is white or beige, often pink-tinged. Stem similarly coloured like the cap or more reddish-brown and it is approximately equal in thickness. The stem does not have a ring. Spore print creamy white to pale orangish yellow.
Microscopic Features: The spores are broadly ellipsoid, measuring 6-9 x 5-7.5 µ, and feature an ornamentation of amyloid spines and ridges, reaching heights of up to 1 µ. These spines and ridges form nearly complete reticula.
Lactarius helvus 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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