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 Gomphidius roseus (Rosy Spike). It grows in Europe.
Dimensions: Cap 3-5 cm diameter, stem 2.5-4.5 cm tall * 0.4-1 cm thick
Description:
Gomphidius roseus, commonly called the Rosy Spike, is a striking pink to rose-coloured agaric usually found in the company of Suillus bovinus, with which it is closely associated. Like its relatives, it is covered in a slimy veil when fresh, and the stem shows a faint, often fugitive ring zone. The gills are greyish, soon darkened by spores, and the base of the stem is tinged yellow. It occurs in coniferous forests, particularly under pine, where it fruitbodies in grass or needle litter.
Cap coral pink to rosy red, becoming brick-red with age. Convex when young, later flattening and sometimes with a small umbo. The surface is viscid when moist and smooth and shiny when dry. Flesh is whitish, firm, and sometimes tinged pink. Gills thick and deeply decurrent, whitish at first, gradually turning grey to mouse-grey with maturity and unchanging when bruised. Stem whitish to pinkish with a yellowish flush near the base, cylindrical or tapering towards the base, with an indistinct glutinous ring zone that often becomes darkened by spores. Spore print black to dark brownish-black.
Microscopic Features: Spores subfusiform, smooth, measuring 16–20 × 5–8 μm.
Note: In North America, Gomphidius roseus does not occur; instead, it is represented by a similar species, Gomphidius subroseus.
Gomphidius roseus on the www.first-nature.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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