Small brown
- Dingy Twiglet (Simocybe centunculus)
- Scurfy Twiglet (Tubaria furfuracea)
Small red, yellow or orange
- Velvet Foot or Wild Enoki (Flammulina velutipes)
- Funeral Bell or Deadly Galerina (Galerina marginata)
- Golden Conecap (Conocybe aurea)
- Sulphur Tuft (Hypholoma)
Small white
- White Fibrecap Inocybe geophylla
Small purple
- Lilac Fibrecap Inocybe lilacina
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White spore print
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Saprophytic, often on litter
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“Marcescence” is the ability to revive with moisture
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Flat to convex caps (not conical)
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Wiry stems
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Ecology (substrates and ecosystems) are important
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White spore print
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Odor is important
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Gills not decurrent
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Saprophytes
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Conical, bonnet, or bell-shaped
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Stem thin but not wiry or tough
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Most are muted colors
Mycenoid Mushrooms
Oak-loving Gymnopus (Gymnopus dryophilus)
Notes: Super common! Synonym Collybia dryophila
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; on litter, twigs and well-decayed wood; in coniferous, deciduous, or mixed forest; spring to fall
Cap: 2-6cm; convex to flat; surface; margin wavy and incurved when young; pancake tan with orange tones; moist
Gills: attached or almost free; crowded; white, maybe pinkish
Stem: 1-10cm long; slightly wider at the base; fibrous and stringy; glabrous on the surface; whiter close to the apex, tanning at the base; might be flattened and/or hollow; white rhizomorphs at the base (not cottony like mycelium, more stringy and root-like
Flesh: white; thin
Spore print: white, maybe cream-colored
Look-a-likes: Gymnopus subsulphureus is similar and found in similar habitats, but has yellow tones on the cap, gills, and stem and the rhizomorphs at the base are pink-yellow-brownish; Tufted Collybia (Gymnopus confluens) has a skinnier and longer stem, reddish brown cap that fades to be very pale, stem has a fuzzy white coating and it grows in bouqetlike clusters; Rhodocollybia lentinoides is similar in form but has saw-tooth edged gills, a lined margin on the cap, a greyish stem and grows under spruce.
Yellowleg Bonnet (Mycena epipterygia var. lignicola)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; on well-decayed coniferous wood; summer and fall
Cap: <1in wide; bonnet with a knob; surface lined/furrowed; margin flares with age; dark yellow, grayish green, faded; viscid
Gills: attached; distant; white to yellow
Stem: long and skinny; paler than cap; smooth; viscid
Flesh: thin; mealy, cucumber smell
Spore print: white
Look-a-likes: Mycena epipterygia var. epipterygia lacks odor, is on the ground, and has brown coloring on the cap; Mycena epiptergia var. viscosa has a strong smell and reddens with age.
Cross-veined Troop Mushroom (Xeromphalina kauffmanii)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; grows in large groups on deciduous stumps and logs; spring to fall
Cap: convex to flat with a depression; surface smooth, becoming lined or pleated; orange, paling at the margin
Gills: run down the stem; close to distant; cross-veins between the gills; pale yellow
Stem: tapers to base; top half yellow, bottom half brown; smooth and wiry; might have orange basal mycelium
Flesh: yellow; smell not distinctive
Spore print: white
Look-a-likes: Xeromphalina campanella is indistinguishable but grows on coniferous stumps and logs, like hemlock.
Common Mycena (Mycena galericulata)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; grows in loose or dense clusters on deciduous, well-decayed logs, stumps, or buried wood; spring to fall
Cap: large for Mycena; bonnet, bell-shaped with a broad knob; surface uneven, bumpy, or radially lined; margin becomes frayed; brown, fading greatly to all white with a tan center; dry, maybe tacky
Gills: barely attached; subdistant; cross-veins present; white, or uniformly pink
Stem: equal; white near apex, brown below; bald and glabrous; sometimes rooting base, especially if on buried wood; dry and hollow
Flesh: white-grey, unchanging; mealy smell
Spore print: white
Look-a-likes: Clustered Bonnet (Mycena inclinata) can stain yellow on the cap and stem, and has a fringed margin.
Clustered Bonnet (Mycena inclinata)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; grows in loose or dense clusters on deciduous, well-decayed logs, stumps or buried wood; spring to fall
Cap: large for Mycena; bonnet, bell-shaped with a broad knob; surface radially lined or grooved; surface; margin has rounded, fringe-like “teeth” when young; brown and might stain or discolor yellow – can fade greatly; tacky
Gills: barely attached; subdistant; cross-veins present; white-grey, maybe pinkish
Stem: equal and smooth; pale yellow above and reddish brown below; base has white clumps of fibrils when young; no rooting
Flesh: strong mealy smell
Spore print: white
Look-a-likes: Common Mycena (Mycena galericulata) might have a rooting base, no fringe on the margin and no yellow staining.
Pine Bonnet (Mycena silvae-nigrae)
Orange Mycena (Mycena leaiana)
Trooping Crumble Cap (Coprinellus disseminatus)
Bleeding Fairy Helmet (Mycena haematopus)
Conical Brittlestem (Parasola conopilea)
Marasmioid Mushrooms
Oak-leaf Pinwheel (Collybiopsis quercophila syn. Marasmius quercophilus)
Notes: not very much information out there about identification
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; oak leaf litter
Cap: white
Gills: attached, veined; distant
Stem: hairlike
Flesh:
Spore print:
Look-alikes: Fairy Parachutes (Marasmiellus candidus)…
Orange-Yellow Marasmius (Marasmius strictipes)
Notes: largest Marasmius
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; alone or in small groups in leaf litter; deciduous forests; summer and fall
Cap: convex to flat, never bell-shaped, broadly knobbed; smooth surface; margin faintly lined and uplifted; yellow or orange-yellow and hygrophanous (drying to be darker in the center and paler yellow along the margin); dry/moist
Gills: notched, nearly free; crowded; white, pale yellow of pinkish
Stem: thick, hollow, straight and equal; white and pale yellow; finely dusted; white basal mycelium; dry
Flesh: thin; radish smell
Spore print: white
Look-alikes:
Dairy Matchstick or Hairy Long Stem Marasmius (Rhizomarasmius pyrrhocephalus)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; on leaf litter and woody debris; deciduous forests (especially oak-hickory); spring to fall – one of the earliest agarics in the spring
Cap: plano-convex to flat; smooth or wrinkly with fine lines or grooves; lined margin; orangeish brown, often with a darker center and lighter towards the margin; thin!
Gills: narrowly attached to notched; close to subdistant; white to yellow-cream
Stem: tough, thin, and deeply rooted; dark but cream-colored at the top and blending down to dark stem; velvety, covered in short hairs; dry
Flesh: thin; smell not distinctive
Spore print: white
Look-alikes: Marasmius sullivantii has a smooth stem and is brighter orange and the cap is not lined
Collared Parachute or Horsehair Mushroom (Marasmius rotula)
Notes: bundt-cake-shaped mushrooms
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; usually clustered on sticks and woody debris; deciduous forest; spring to fall
Cap: convex, pleated (radially grooved), and with a deep central depression– from the side they look to have a flat top and squarish sides; smooth surface; white and brown dot in the depression; dry
Gills: gills are attached to a “collar” around the stem; distant; yellow-white colored
Stem: equal; shiny, wiry, and black except at the apex; dry
Flesh: thin; not distinctive
Spore print: white
Look-alikes: Marasmius capillaris grows on oak leaf litter.
Orange Pinwheel (Marasmius siccus)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; leaf litter and woody debris; deciduous forests, sometimes in needle duff of White Pine; summer and fall
Cap: bell-shaped with radial grooves (pleating); smooth, wrinkly, and slightly roughened surface; margin entire; orange, maybe faded; dry
Gills: attached or free; distant; white to pale yellow
Stem: slender and tough; dark and whitish above; wiry and smooth; basal mycelium white; dry
Flesh: thin; smell not distinctive
Spore print: white
Look-alikes:
Black-stalked Marasmius (Tetrapyrgos nigripes syn. Marasmiellus nigripes)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; leaf litter and twigs; deciduous forests, maybe mixed forest; summer and fall
Cap: convex to flat and wavy; smooth or powdery and often with wrinkled pleating; white with blue-gray tones; dry and rubbery
Gills: broadly attached to subdecurrent; distant; wiggly arrangement and with lots of cross veins; white to cream, sometimes discoloring red
Stem: straight, thin, flexible; no basal mycelium but may be emerging from a disc base; white at first, becoming blue/black from the bottom up (hence the name black-footed); covered in tiny white hairs; dry
Flesh: thin, rubbery; smell not distinctive
Spore print: white
Look-alikes: Fairy Parachutes (Marasmiellus candidus) look similar but have more distant gills, white basal mycelium at attachment, and do not have a straight stem longer than the cap.
Fairy Parachutes (Marasmiellus candidus)
Notes:
Habitat & Ecology: saprophytic; closely grouped on stems, twigs, and woody debris; deciduous and coniferous forests; summer and fall
Cap: convex to flat and becoming wavy; thin and fragile; radially wrinkly but not grooved; white and staining pink or yellow with age; dry
Gills: broadly attached to decurrent; irregularly spaced, very distant, with lots of cross veins; white, becoming pink with age
Stem: equal, short, fleshy, can be attached to cap off-center, and is often curved; small pad of white cottony mycelium at point of attachment; white and maybe dark at the base; frosty surface; dry
Flesh: thin and white; smell not distinctive
Spore print:
Look-alikes: Black-stalked Marasmius (Tetrapyrgos nigripes) gills are closer together and the stem is longer, straight, and comes directly out of substrate (not cottony mycelium).
