Top 20 Edible Mushrooms Popular in Perth

Dark fieldcap is distinguishable for its dark cap that surprisingly does not lose its color as the fungus reaches maturity. Dark fieldcap thrives in hardwood and softwood forests, and also grows in rotting mulch piles.

The fruit body usually grows to a diameter of 6–15 cm (2–6 in), although extremes of 3 cm (1.2 in) and 27 cm (11 in) have been reported. Its shape ranges from roughly spherical, to obovate (egg-shaped) or pyriform (pear-shaped), sometimes plicate (crumpled, wrinkled) around a somewhat fibrous, persistent tuft of mycelium. The puffball is initially covered by a thick, felted, whitish layer (the exoperidium). This is continuous at first but eventually cracks and peels away in thin flakes, exposing a leathery to corky, nearly smooth, light brown to dark pinkish-brown surface. This tough layer of tissue (the endoperidium) measures about 2 mm thick, encloses the gleba. In maturity, the endoperidium opens by irregular splits that eventually extend towards the base in a star-shaped manner. These torn segments of endoperidium sometimes turn inside out, sometimes drying rigid, exposing a felt-like internal surface. The gleba is white when young and has a cheesy appearance and consistency. As the puffball matures, it undergoes a lytic process involving water loss. Subsequently, the gleba becomes olivaceous, olive-brown, and finally, dark olive when dry, and then develops a characteristic pungent smell. Fruit bodies that grow underground have a conspicuously different morphology–a smooth, chocolate-brown coloured surface that lacks the patches characteristic of above-ground fruit bodies, and their capillitia are bifurcate with stumpy spines. The fungus is edible when the gleba is white. Its odor and taste have been described as pungent or earthy and its taste astringent. Its spores are spherical, measuring 8–13 µm, and have a surface of irregular, coarse warts. The capillitium refers to late-maturing, thick-walled cells in the gleba. The main axes of these branched cells are 20–30 µm thick, and they are covered with numerous spines. Mycenastrum corium subsp. ferrugineum has a deep rusty red to reddish orange gleba, clearly distinguishing it from the glebal coloring of the main subspecies. M. corium var. diabolicum has an extremely spiny capillitium.

Crested coral(Clavulina coralloides) is a distinctive coral mushroom that is widespread in coniferous and hardwood forests, acting as a decomposer of dead and decaying timber. Endemic to the temperate zones of North America and Europe, it sprouts from late summer to winter.

This mushroom blooms in summer and autumn, usually near or beneath pine trees. It does well in cold climates, but can also be found further south all around the northern hemisphere. During moist weather, the slippery jack's caps become quite slimy, leading to their common name.

These puffy mushrooms grow in small groups on the forest floor. Once they're mature, common puffballs turn yellow and "puff out" smoke-like spore clouds when disturbed. Be very careful when identifying these mushrooms, as their young, immature form looks very similar to the lethal Deathcap.

Leafy brain is a parasitic slime mold that feeds off mushrooms. As hinted by its name, it has distinct lobes that start off leaflike and become more wrinkled and brain-like with age. This slime mold shrivels into black crusts when dry but can perk up again after rain.

The aptly-titled orange peel fungus (Aleuria aurantia) forms fruitbodies that strongly resemble peeled-off rinds of oranges. The species has an irregular folded shape and boasts a bright orange hue. Orange peel fungus usually grows directly out of soil and can be found across temperate regions of North America, Europe, and a few parts of Chile.

These large white mushrooms bloom all over cleared, harvested fields, as well as pastures and roadsides. The scientific species name comes from Greek words meaning “glue” (glioio) and “head” (cephalus), in reference to the sticky surface of this mushroom’s cap. The big sheath mushroom looks so similar to the poisonous Deathcap and Destroying Angel mushrooms that it should always be left alone.

Beefsteak fungus(Fistulina hepatica) is an unusual fungus that visually resembles a slab of raw meat; cutting into it will cause a discharge of thick red liquid resembling blood, adding to this resemblance.