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 Cortinarius caperatus (Gypsy Mushroom). It grows in North America, Europe, East Asia.
Dimensions: Cap 5-12 cm diameter, stem 4-10 cm tall * 1-1.5 cm thick
Description:
Cortinarius caperatus, also known as Gypsy Mushroom, is egg-shaped on emerging and its cap becomes convex to umbonate with age. It is yellow-brown with a wrinkled surface and remnants of the white to lilac veil in the center. The smooth stem has a narrow, sheathing ring, also known as a partial veil, which is a key identifying feature of the mushroom. The fruit bodies appear in autumn in coniferous and beech woods as well as heathlands in late summer and autumn.
Cap yellow-brown to brownish-ochre and covered with whitish fibres, especially over the centre. The surface has a wrinkled and furrowed texture. It may have a lilac tinge when young. Initially convex before expanding and flattening with a boss (umbo) in the centre. Gills pallid buff or clay, adnate, crowded. The gills are covered by a white partial veil when young. Stem slightly swollen at the base, and is whitish with a thick whitish ring at the midsection, which initially is attached to the cap. Spore print rusty brown to ochre brown.
Microscopic Features: The spores have an ellipsoidal shape, with a size of 10-15 x 7-10µm and a moderately verrucose surface.
Cortinarius caperatus on the www.first-nature.com web site.
Cortinarius caperatus 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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