Quick link to our ID guides
Fungi are all around us. It’s estimated that millions of species are within the fungal kingdom, and about 150,000 species have been described. Species that produce visible fruiting bodies, macrofungi, make up around 14,000 of those described species, and new ones are continually discovered, mainly thanks to advances in and wider accessibility to DNA sequencing. Much of the mushroom community across the world is made up of amateur mycologists and enthusiasts who go on forays to collect specimens for study, to marvel at the diversity and mystery, and spend time in the outdoors. One of the many unique aspects of mycology is that many authoritative figures in the mushroom world are actually amateurs, or without formal education/training. One of the most extensive online sources for identification is mushroomexpert.com, which was created by Michael Kuo, a retired English professor turned mushroom expert. Increasingly in recent decades, individuals, often with other day jobs, have worked tirelessly to describe and document the diversity of mushrooms to conserve them and the land they exist within. And of course, in addition to conservation, foraging and cooking with wild edibles has exploded in recent years. The fascination with the mystery of mushrooms is contagious.
Using to iNaturalist estimates, there are at least 3,000 species of fungi (including lichens and non-mushroom producing fungi) have been observed in New York State, ~700 observed within Columbia County (using research grade and verifiable observations), and ~150 species throughout Hawthorne Valley Farm. iNaturalist is a nonprofit organization that aims to create a centralized network of observations and documentation of biodiversity worldwide, that allows users to learn from and teach each other. You never know how submitting an observation today could help someone in the future or now. For example, a paper coauthored by Anna and Conrad was published using a historical data set made up of phenological data collected by students in the mid-19th century across New York state. FEP has found iNaturalist to be a nice reference for how often certain species are observed, such as uncommon skippers and rare plants. We have created a “project” on iNat called Life in Our Farmscape: the Biodiversity of Columbia County which automatically incorporates any observations made within Columbia County, NY.
Identification Tips:
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In the beginning, its helpful to try and identify mushrooms to broader taxonomic levels than species. With some species, once you have met them, your intuition can be enough to guide you. For example, the unique scruffiness and coloring of a bolete called “Old Man-of-the-woods,” is hard to forget or mistake for another. However, many mushrooms require careful observation and practice. Being able to identify general groups (like jellies or boletes) or genera can be just as satisfying as pinning down a species. Once you get those levels of ID down, or maybe once you begin to gravitate towards a certain group, you can key in on the more nuanced differences.
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Using regional field guides to help narrow down the possibilities. Books covering all of North America can be helpful to use if you have a ballpark idea, but looking through a book with only species in your region can save lots of time and frustration if you are unsure about what group or genus you have. For the Northeast, I recommend using Mushrooms of the Northeast and Eastern Canada by Timothy Baroni. It is organized by spore print color and general morphology, and includes a simplified, user-friendly key to genus at the beginning of each section. The new Audubon Society book, Mushrooms of North America is larger than the field guide version and includes more photos. We find it does include a lot of species not mentioned in Baroni’s guide, has informative comments about similar species, and is updated with new names and research on species that are considered a complex or group of species now.
Farmscape Resources:
Progress of the Seasons Blog Postings
13 September 2024 — The Wonderful World of Waxy Caps
7 March 2024 — Floodplain Forest Mushrooms at Siegel Kline Kill Conservation Area
6 February 2024 — Winter Mushrooms at Rheinstrom Hill Audubon Sanctuary
8 November 2023 — Variety of saprophytic species
23 February 2023 — Scroll down for Turkey Tail vs. False Turkey Tail
19 July 2023 — Comparison of Russulas, Milkcaps, and Boletes (briefly)
2 November 2022 — The Unveiling of a Mulch Pile (A look at cup fungi)
31 August 2022 — A variety of summertime species
Monitored iNaturalist Project
Life in Our Farmscape: the Biodiversity of Columbia County
Off-site Resources:
MushroomExpert.com — This is one of our favorite resources for corroborating a suspicion or using a key. Michael Kuo, the creator of this site and author of a few books, is a retired English professor and an amateur mycologist. His thoughtful and honest descriptions not only help with narrowing down and recommending look-a-likes to check against but also lay out what it takes (or if it is possible) to be confident in an identification. He even has a page on trees to help identify habitats!
Mycoquebec.org — This is another great online resources with lots of pictures. The descriptions include a “remarks” section at the bottom with helpful clues about the species, and potential look-a-likes. It is originally in french (you need a translating extension in your browser) so there might be some oddities in the english translation.
Books:
Mushrooms of the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada (A Timber Press Field Guide) — Timothy Baroni
Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America — Binion, Stephenson, Roody…
Mushrooms of North America — National Audubon Society [includes all of North America but has more informative information and clearer images than the Audubon Field Guide]