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)
Brown, Olive, Orange or Tan Spored SuborderGills not free
Spore print tan, orange, deep ochre, yellowish olive, olive brown, rusty or cinnamon brown or deep brown
Ring usually either absent or not membranous
Lignicolous Brown Spored FamilyGrowing on wood
Little Lignicolous Brown Spored Subfamily
Diagnosis
- Cap usually less than an inch across; hygrophanous; usually darker shade(s) of brown: more or less caramel-colored
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Sometimes lacking a stem
Narrow down your identification:
Crepidotus Genus- Growing shelf-like from dead hardwoods
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Cap often an inch or less across; always less than 3"
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Stem absent or very stubby. Usually just attached to the substrate by a point on the cap from which the gills diverge
Galerina Genus- Cap conical or "helmet-shaped" for a long time; glabrous; color and translucency resembling a caramel, when fresh
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Usually growing on logs, in moss
Tubaria Genus- Cap flattening out at maturity; often minutely fibrillose
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In my experience, usually growing on mulch, rotting sticks, leaves, other small bits of woody forest litter
