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 Chroogomphus mediterraneus (Mediterranean Pine-Spike). It grows in Europe.
Dimensions: Cap 2.5-5 cm dia; stem 4-7 cm tall * 0.5-1.5 cm dia.
Description:
Chroogomphus mediterraneus, commonly known as the Mediterranean Pine-Spike, is a medium-sized mushroom with an orange-brown to reddish-brown cap and decurrent, cinnamon-coloured gills. It forms mycorrhizal associations with pines and is usually found in Mediterranean and southern European woodlands, often appearing in sandy or dry soils beneath conifer trees. This species is characterised by its yellow basal mycelium, small size, and the colour of its flesh when cut, especially at the stem base.
Cap at first hemispherical to convex, later flattened with a faint central bump and sometimes slightly depressed. The skin is slimy in wet weather, smooth when dry, and covered with dark, appressed fibrils. Colour varies from grey-brown to cream-orange, often with cream or purplish patches, and sometimes entirely wine-red. Gills distant, descending along the stem, with short gilllets at the cap margin; initially yellow-orange, becoming darker to grey-olive and finally dark brown due to spore deposit. Stem cylindrical, more or less tapering at the base, wrinkled, creamy-pink with wine-red spots; greyish at the base with yellow-ochre mycelium. Young specimens may show a fleeting partial veil on the margin of the cap, but the ring zone is almost absent. Flesh firm, whitish-cream in the cap, yellow-orange in the stem, and grey-blackish at the stem base; smell and taste not distinctive. Spore print darkish.
Microscopic Features: Spindle-shaped, dextrinoid, 18–21 × 6–7 µm; basidia 2–4-spored, club-shaped, 45–60 × 5–6 µm; cystidia cylindrical-clavate, covered with mucus or incrustations, rounded at the tip and ending in a long, narrow stalk, 75–165 × 15–20 µm.
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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