Key to Gilled Mushrooms KeyThis is a key to gilled mushrooms, that is, mushrooms having a definite cap with a fertile surface consisting of gills. The fruiting body usually also has a stem, although that may be lateral or absent (usually, then, the mushroom is growing from wood). You can use this key to identify mushrooms that you find.
Agaricales OrderFruiting body containing fibers (usually in the stalk)
White Spored SuborderSpore print "light-colored": white or buff, sometimes tinged with pink or tan. Greenish and (except for the Russulales) yellow spore prints also go here
Stalk fibrous, not fracturing like a piece of chalk
Tricholomataceae FamilyNone of the special features distinguishing the other white-spored genera:
Gills not free, as in the Lepiotas and Amanitas
Basidia not extra-long, as in the Hygrophoraceae
Spores smooth, except for Lentinellus
Terrestrial Trich SubfamilyGrowing on the ground
Woodland Normal Trich TribeFound in woods
Not rooting
Collybia sensu lato SemiTribeCap up to 2" across, occasionally larger; sometimes purplish
Usually growing on leaves and duff rather than directly on the ground
Diagnosis
Narrow down your identification:
Gymnopus dryophilusCap warm brown; convex with an inrolled margin when young, becoming umbonate with an upraised wavy margin in age
Stalk sometimes clavate (big end down); lower part or surrounding substrate often covered with white mycelium; hollow, tough
Gymnopus subnudusCap up to 6" across
Stalk with a bulbous base
