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 Tricholoma imbricatum (Matt Knight). It grows in Europe, North America.
Dimensions: Cap 6-18 cm diameter; stem 3.5-12 cm tall * 1-3 cm diameter
Description:
Tricholoma imbricatum, commonly known as the Matt Knight, is a medium to large agaric distinguished by its dry, finely scaly cap that ranges from reddish-brown to chestnut in colour. The cap surface often appears slightly rough or matt, setting it apart from the more glossy or slimy species in the same genus. This mushroom typically grows in coniferous forests, particularly under pine, where it forms mycorrhizal associations.
Cap convex when young, becoming broadly convex to flat with age. The surface is dry and matt, often finely scaly or fibrillose, with a reddish-brown to chestnut-brown colour that may fade slightly towards the margin. As the cap matures, it can develop small radial cracks or fissures. Gills whitish at first, later showing reddish-brown spotting with age. They are adnexed to adnate, fairly close, and of medium thickness. Stem solid, firm, and cylindrical or slightly club-shaped, ranging from whitish near the apex to brownish below. It is smooth or covered with fine fibrils and lacks a ring. Spore print white.
Microscopic Features: Spores are broadly ellipsoidal to subglobose, smooth, and hyaline, measuring 4–8 × 4–6 µm. They are inamyloid, showing no colour reaction in iodine. The basidia are four-spored, and clamp connections are absent.
Tricholoma imbricatum on the MushroomExpert.Com Web site.
Tricholoma imbricatum on the mykoweb.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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