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 Hypholoma lateritium (Brick Tuft). It grows in Europe, North America.
Dimensions: Cap 3-10 cm diameter, 5-15 cm tall * 0.5-1.2 cm diameter
Description:
Hypholoma lateritium, also known as the Brick Tuft Mushroom, is a small or medium-sized agaric with a reddish-brown cap on a yellow background, yellow or olive-brown gills, and a faint ring zone. The mushroom grows densely caespitose, or clustered, on stumps and debris of broad-leaf trees.
Cap reddish-brown, with the colour deepening towards the centre and becoming more ochreous at the margin. It starts off convex and becomes more expanded with age, appearing smooth but with dark velar remnants attached near the cap margin. The flesh is pallid yellowish, firm, and moderate. Gills attached to the stem, close or crowded when young, covered by a whitish, cortina-like veil. They are whitish when very young, but soon turn pale grey to grey, becoming purple-grey to dark purple-brown with maturity. Short gills are frequent. Stem pallid yellowish above but more concolourous with cap towards the base, more or less equal in width, typically curved, smooth. There is no ring present. Spore print purple-brown.
Microscopic Features: Spores are ellipsoidal, smooth, measuring 6-8 x 3-4.5μm, and feature a small germ pore.
Note: Hypholoma sublateritium is a synonym most mycologists tend to favour in the USA.
Hypholoma lateritium on the First Nature Web site.
Hypholoma sublateritium 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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