Top 20 Most Common Mushrooms in Missouri

1. Dryad's saddle

A familiar sight to spring morel hunters, dryad's saddle is noteworthy for its large size, striking scales, and watermelon-like smell. Similar to other mushrooms in the bracket fungi family, dryad's saddle can be used to make paper. Younger mushrooms are better suited for this purpose due to their smaller and more consistent fibers.

2. Elegant stinkhorn

The elegant stinkhorn has a distinctive appearance and smell, hence the name "stinkhorn". The spores of this odd-looking mushroom must be dispersed by insects, particularly flies. The mushroom produces its odorous, spore-thick slime in order to attract these insects and attach its spores to their bodies.

3. Chicken of the woods

Chicken of the woods is very noticeable in hardwood forests, appearing in clusters on standing tree trunks in bright orange and yellow hues that sometimes last through the entire winter. It is a parasite that causes an unfortunate brown heart rot, and is considered a particularly troublesome pest of Yew trees. If the fruitbodies can be seen, the tree is likely already beyond saving.

4. 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.

5. Pear-shaped puffball

The mushrooms of this species grow in such tight clusters that they may cover fallen trees and stumps almost entirely in a brownish, puffy coat. Pear-shaped puffballs appear all around the northern hemisphere on decaying hardwoods from fall through winter.

6. 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.

7. Cedar-apple rust

The vividly-colored fruitbodies of cedar-apple rust (Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae) might be mistaken for flowers, from a distance. Upon closer inspection they can be identified as fungal growths attacking the fruit of cedar trees. Their microscopic spores can travel up to an astounding 5 miles when carried on the wind and infect cedars quite far away, weakening the trees as they grow.

8. Devil's urn

The devil's urn (Urnula craterium) is a black or brown cup-shaped fungus. The species' tough, cracked outer layer and dark coloration may give it a scorched appearance. Devil's urns tend to grow in clusters and are usually found adorning fallen branches and rotting logs. Though the species is not edible itself, gatherers keep an eye out for it, as it usually fruits at about the same time as morels.

9. Lion's Mane Mushroom

Lion's Mane Mushroom(Hericium erinaceus) is easily identifiable by its characteristic appearance, reminiscent of the majestic mane of a lion. It often sprouts along hardwoods, which may be living or dead. Scientists thus debate whether this species is truly parasitic or merely saprophytic in nature.

10. Stalked scarlet cup

One of the first mushrooms to appear in the spring, the stalked scarlet cup often pops up from the snow. With its striking, bright red fruitbody, it can't be missed. Although this delicate little mushroom is considered nonpoisonous, it's considered inedible as it doesn't have any culinary value.

11. False parasol

Though the false parasol appears unassuming, the species is famous—or, infamous—for its toxicity. It looks unfortunately similar to Agericus campestrus, a commonly eaten mushroom, but the false parasol can be distinguished by its highly unusual green spore print. Although they are no good to eat, they can be pretty to look at. The species may grow in ring-shaped groups in meadows and on forest floors in what are sometimes called "fairy circles."

12. Ganoderma resinaceum

The Harzige Lackporling is a console-shaped mushroom that can be 15-35 cm long, 10-20 wide and 4-8 cm thick. The top is colored red or purple-brown. The hat is covered by a pale yellow resin crust, which melts in the match or lighter flame. The beaded rim is fresh yellow to yellow orange, creamy in a dry state. The underside of the mushroom covered with round pores (3 per mm) is young white and later cream colored. The tubes are about 8-10 mm long. The relatively thin trama is light brown and tough cork-like. Juicing occurs when young fruiting bodies are cut, which solidifies into a resinous mass within a short time. The fruiting bodies are annual.

13. Oak bracket

Oak bracket(Pseudoinonotus dryadeus) is a rather large fungus that acts as a parasite to living or recently deceased oaks. Particularly striking are the amber-colored droplets of liquid this species secretes, which may resemble honey in appearance. If sufficiently mature, the fungus can ring the circumference of an entire oak tree. It is thought to be inedible.

14. White jelly fungus

Unlike other jelly mushrooms, which are typically found on fresh deadwood, white jelly fungus grows on well-decayed wood from hardwood trees. Its fruiting body is indeed white, fading to muted brown hues with age. Its shape has garnered a wide range of comparisons, from brains to popcorn to coral.

15. Black-staining polypore

The black-staining polypore (Meripilus sumstinei) is strikingly large. This giant mushroom erupts from decaying tree roots and displays its flat caps in a rosette pattern. They range in color as they mature, starting out a pale yellow and turning dark and smokey looking with occasional black spots.

16. Reddening lepiota

Found in woodland settings across North America, the reddening lepiota gets its name from one of its unusual qualities. When bruised, cut, or otherwise damaged, the flesh slowly turns red (most other mushrooms species turn blue or black).

17. Scaly ink cap

The scaly ink cap (Coprinopsis variegata) has a bell-shaped cap that is tall and cylindrical and hides gills that change with age from white to bright pink to black underneath. The cap becomes haggard as it ages and often gives the appearance that it is shedding its flesh in sheets. These are extremely common in decaying logs and are seldom more than a hand's height tall.

18. 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.”

19. Coral-pink merulius

The coral-pink merulius is a distinctive pink mushroom that grows on rotten wood. Interestingly, this mushroom almost always appears together with the False turkey tail (Stereum ostrea). If you spot one of them, the other one is probably somewhere near.

20. Lantern stinkhorn

Distinctive even among the outlandish varieties of the stinkhorn family, the lantern stinkhorn (Lysurus mokusin) bursts from the ground with a squared, flat-sided stem that’s ribbed like a churro. Atop this stipe is a hollow claw, like a hand with all its fingertips pressed together. The inside surface of this claw is coated with sticky, stinky goo meant to attract insects that will spread its spores.

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