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
Diagnosis
- Gills free
-
Annulus usually present (on some small species, the partial veil may remain instead as scraps of tissue on the edge of the cap)
-
Cap often umbonate, often with a concentric design of scales that are an intrinsic part of the cap (not easily peeled off without taking part of the cap with it)
-
The cap is also usually egg-shaped or completely round (like a globe) at first - - it doesn't start to open until the stem is almost fully grown
Comments
The pileipellis of Lepiota species is often more deeply colored than the flesh beneath. As the cap expands, the pileipellis gets torn apart, becoming colored scraps that are farthest apart towards the margin of the cap (where the most expansion has taken place). Often, the disk (especially the umbo) remains solidly colored, as very little expansion takes place there
Narrow down your identification:
Big Lepiotas Section- Cap can reach more than 2-3" across at maturity
-
Flesh sometimes changing color if cut or bruised
-
Ring often thick-edged and can be slid up and down the stalk
-
If the size of your collection is borderline, try this choice first
Little Lepiotas Section- Cap less than 3" across at maturity; usually less than 2
-
If flesh changes color when cut or bruised, it turns red, without any preliminary color
-
Cap scaly or powdery (or both!)
-
Stem typically tough, fibrous
-
Ring typically persistent, membranous
