Top 20 Most Common Mushrooms in Newfoundland and Labrador

This wide-capped toadstool grows all around the world in temperate zones of the northern and southern hemispheres. Brown roll-rim mushrooms are known to be poisonous when consumed, causing immediate gastric upset if eaten raw and damaging vital organs of the body even when cooked, leading to death over time.

Found in temperate forests, wetlands, and bogs across the northern hemisphere, the yellowfoot is a highly sought after member of the chanterelle family. Considered a choice edible, it boasts a lovely, complex flavor (though it is somewhat less fruity and sweet then some of its more popular cousins). Yellowfoots are sometimes called "winter mushrooms", as they tend to be very late-season fruiters.

Witch's hat mushrooms appear after summer and autumn rains, popping up in groups across fields, grasslands, and roadsides, particularly in places where the soil quality is poor. Catch them quickly to see bright orange or red colors, as the caps quickly turn jet black. They remain standing for several weeks in that glossy, stately form. Witch's hat is reported to be poisonous.

Witches' butter (Tremella mesenterica) has an irregularly-shaped fruitbody that can be found growing on dead hardwood branches. It has a global distribution, being found in both temperate and tropical forests. Usually yellow in color, its hues may range from subdued lemon to bright canary.

A rare albino mutant lacking orange pigment The fruiting body of C. fulgens is roughly cup-shaped, although the cup may be somewhat flattened, lopsided or split; the size is up to 4 centimetres (1.6 in) in diameter. The inner surface of the cup is orange-yellow, while the external surface is pale yellow. Either the margin around the rim or the entire outer surface may be stained olive-green. The green or bluish staining that occurs upon injury or with age is unique within the Pezizales order. The stem, if present, is rather short. The spore deposit is white. A single specimen of an albino form, 2 centimetres (0.8 in) in diameter, was discovered in Northern Idaho; it was found to be lacking the pigment responsible for staining the outer surface olive-green. The spores are translucent (hyaline), roughly spherical, thin-walled and smooth, with dimensions of 6–8 µm in diameter. The asci, the spore-bearing cells, are cylindrical and 80–100 by 7–8 µm; the paraphyses are thin and filamentous and contain orange granules. Edibility has not been recorded for this fungus.

Irregular earth tongue can be identified by its yellow body in North America and Japan. It can be found in groups of conifer forests in needle duffs. The irregular earth tongue has been dubbed a living fossil as it is a part of the unculturable Ascomycota.

Common orange lichen was selected in 2006 by the United States Department of Energy as a model for genomic sequencing. Its widespread dispersal and bright yellow-orange color give the lichen its common name. It is primarily found growing on rocks, walls, and tree bark.

This parasitic fungus species has the ability to damage large swathes of forest. It lives as interwoven underground threads that only occasionally sprout surface mushrooms. A single specimen of dark honey mushroom can grow for thousands of years, and one found in the US covers 2200 acres, earning it the title of the world’s largest living organism.

The birch polypore has a variety of applications. Its thick skin has been used by barbers as a razor sharpener and as a mount for insect collectors. When dried, this mushroom was also used to carry fire over long distances because it burns slowly. The historical use of birch polypore doesn't stop there; pieces of this mushroom were found being carried by the five-thousand-year-old mummy Ötzi the Iceman.

Bitter oysterling(Panellus stipticus) is most often found growing on pieces of dead or decaying wood. Certain strands of this species are particularly notable for their bioluminescence, which is a rare but not unknown trait among the various species of fungi. Because it is small and bitter, this species is generally considered inedible.