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 Morchella esculenta (Common Morel). It grows in Europe, North America.
Dimensions: 2-7 cm diameter * 5-15 cm tall
Description:
Morchella esculenta, commonly known as common morel, morel, yellow morel, and true morel is a large or massive, yellowish brown, more or less rounded honeycombed cap on a stout whitish stem. It grows solitary on soil in scrub or open woodland. The mushroom fruits in spring.
Cap pale brownish cream, yellow to tan or pale brown to greyish brown. The edges of the ridges are usually lighter than the pits, and somewhat oval in outline, sometimes bluntly cone-shaped with a rounded top or more elongate. The caps are hollow, attached to the stem at the lower edge. The flesh is white, brittle, thin and hollow.
Stem white to pallid or pale yellow, hollow, and straight or with a club-shaped or bulbous base. It is finely granular overall, and somewhat ridged. Spore print creamy white or pale ochre.
Microscopic Features: Spores are ellipsoidal, smooth, measuring 17.5-22 x 9-11µm, and hyaline.
Similar species include other Morchella species like Morchella elata (Black Morel). Gyromitra species can also be mistaken as Morchella esculenta but they lack the pitted cap and have a chambered, rather than a hollow, stem. One of these is Gyromitra esculenta (False Morel).
Note: Morchella esculenta and Morchella esculentoides are often considered as two different forms or varieties of the same species, commonly known as the common morel. Both forms have a similar appearance. However, there is some debate among mycologists about whether Morchella esculenta and Morchella esculentoides are distinct species or not. Some researchers suggest that the two forms may represent different ecological or genetic variants of the same species, while others argue that they should be treated as separate species.
Morchella esculenta on the www.first-nature.com web site.
Morchella esculentoides on the MushroomExpert.Com Web site.
The second photo is by DrewHeath and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported license.
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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