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 Macrolepiota procera (Parasol Mushroom). It grows in Europe, North America.
Dimensions: Cap 10-25 cm diameter; stem 15-30 cm tall * 1-1.5 cm diameter
Description:
Macrolepiota procera, also known as the Parasol Mushroom, is a spectacularly large, distinctive, pale brownish agaric with a scaly cap, white gills, and a pale brownish stem with a snakeskin pattern and ring. It grows solitary, scattered, or clustered on soil in open grassy places and in mixed woods. The mushroom is in North America commonly confused with Chlorophyllum molybdites (The Vomiter), which is more common there.
Cap pallid brown decorated with darker brown broad scales. It starts off egg-shaped and then bell-shaped until the cap margin detaches from the stripe. The base colour becomes lighter with age. Dark scales appear on top when the brown surface cracks up from the smooth, central bump. The cap flesh is white and does not change significantly when cut. Gills white or pale cream, broad, crowded, free and terminating some distance from the stipe. Stem is distinctive grey-brown with banded markings on a whitish background, long and thin with an onion-shaped base. Above the double-edged ring that often falls off, it is evenly brown and below this, it is irregularly striped in a zigzag pattern. Spore print white or very pale cream.
Microscopic Features: The spores are ellipsoidal in shape, smooth, and have a thick wall. They measure approximately 12-18 x 8-12µm and possess a small germ pore.
Similar species include Chlorophyllum molybdites (The Vomiter) which has a stouter stalk and a greenish spore print.
Note: Multiple "parasol mushrooms" in North America may be identified as the Eurasian species Macrolepiota procera. Many, if not all, of these species are undescribed and unnamed.
Macrolepiota procera on the First Nature Web site.
Macrolepiota procera on the MushroomExpert.Com Web site.
Macrolepiota procera on the www.mushroomknowhow.com Web site.
The second and fourth photos are by Chrumps and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International 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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