Top 20 Most Common Mushrooms in Baden-Wurttemberg
Most Common Mushrooms
1. Red-belted conk
This bracket or shelf fungus grows for years on both living and dead conifer trees. Its annual growth creates distinctive rings or ridges, with a bright red or orange band separating the old layers from the current growth. Red-belted conk is only a danger to living trees if it colonizes a very deep cut or broken top.
2. Turkey tail
The distinctively-striped turkey tail fungus grows on stumps and logs all over the forests of the northern hemisphere. It is, in fact, probably the most common species you will find. That doesn't mean this mushroom is plain, however; each cap is uniquely patterned. Look for bands of alternating textures as well as color.
3. Common orange lichen
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.
4. Sulphur tuft
The sulphur tuft grows on rotting wood of all types of trees; it is a particularly efficient decomposer of hardwoods. The mushrooms appear from spring to autumn and are often so tightly packed that they interfere with each other’s shape. This poisonous mushroom can cause temporary paralysis, distorted vision, and stomach pain if consumed.
5. Fly agaric
In Northern Asia and Europe, fly agaric grows under trees near the winter solstice and is collected for ritual use tied to the season. Its characteristic shape and coloring are still ubiquitous in many European fairy tale illustrations and Christmas traditions. It is highly toxic.
6. Hairy curtain crust
This clustered, overlapping fungus is found all over the world, and is considered native across both the northern and southern hemispheres. Both its common name, hairy curtain crust, and its scientific name, Stereum hirsutum, aptly describe its most obvious features: it is quite tough (stereum) and the younger fruitbodies are notably hairy (hirsutum).
7. Split gill
Split gill(Schizophyllum commune) can be found across the globe. Uniquely, it is the only mushroom species known to display the capability to retract by movement. It is considered inedible, although not necessarily toxic. Furthermore, it is not recommended to smell this species, as the spores are capable of sprouting and growing in nasal passages.
8. Lumpy bracket
Lumpy bracket grows on most types of hardwood, forming clustered brackets on standing trees or rosette patterns on the tops of stumps. The surface is a very pale color that sometimes appears tinged green when algae colonize the top of the fungus. They can get very large as they remain through the winter and grow for several years.
9. Parasol
Found in clearings and grassy areas in late summer, the wild parasol mushroom has a snakeskin-patterned stem. The brown spots on its cap make it look a bit shaggy, but that name is reserved for its poisonous counterpart, the Shaggy Parasol (Chlorophyllum rhacodes). You can distinguish the two by the stems: the latter has a smooth stem and red flesh inside.
10. Shaggy mane
The shaggy mane mushroom is commonly found in North American and European grasslands. Some peoples foraged for its young egg-shaped caps, but it has more recently been found to be a bioaccumulator of heavy metals, meaning it pulls toxic metals up from the soil where it grows. As a result, shaggy manes should not be eaten. The mushrooms usually appear in clusters or “fairy rings.”
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