Welcome to Mushroom World
Step into the fascinating world of mushrooms with Mushroom World – your go-to resource for fungi information. Our site offers clear information and beautiful images of mushrooms.
If you're curious about what fungi actually are and how they differ from plants and animals, be sure to visit our what are fungi? page for an easy-to-understand explanation.
Since there are thousands of known species of mushrooms, we have limited our database to the most common ones. New species are also continuously added to the site.
Come and explore the wonders of mushrooms with us. We hope you find our site informative, inspiring, and a valuable resource on your journey of mushroom discovery.
What you can do on Mushroom World
Browse the database
Explore mushrooms from the alphabetical list or search by name or properties.
Identify a mushroom
Know some characteristics but not the name? Use our mushroom identification helper to narrow it down.
New to identification? Start with identification basics.
Test your knowledge
Try our identification quiz and see how many mushrooms you recognise. Each run gives you new questions.
Upload your photos
Have good mushroom photos to share? Use the upload form and we will see if we can include them on the site.
Today's Mushroom
A quick highlight from our database
Today's mushroom is Geastrum rufescens (Rosy earthstar). It grows in Europe, North America and Asia.
Dimensions: 2.5 - 5 cm diameter
Description:
Geastrum rufescens, commonly known as the Rosy earthstar, is a globe-shaped fruiting body that is pale brown in colour and opens up as it matures. The outer skin of the fruiting body splits into a star shape. Inside, there is a pale grey to grey buff ball that houses the spores. This species typically grows in clusters in light soil, often found near decaying hardwood stumps, during the summer to fall season.
Fruiting body first globe-shaped, yellow-brown, partially submerged in the substrate, covered with mycelium that picks up dirt and debris. Opens on maturity so its outer skin splits into a star shape with 6–8 pink to pinkish tan, radiating, pointed arms.
Microscopic Features: The spores are globose, measuring 3-5 µm in size and adorned with low, dense spines up to 0.5 µm in length. They appear brownish to brown when treated with KOH.
Geastrum rufescens on the MushroomExpert.Com Web site.
The second photo is by Jimmy Craine and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
If you are interested in this mushroom, look it up in our database for more detailed photographs and additional information.
Many mushrooms are poisonous, and some can be lethally toxic. Distinguishing between edible and poisonous mushrooms can be very challenging. Therefore, we strongly advise against consuming wild mushrooms. This website does not contain any information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms.
Although efforts have been made to ensure accuracy on this website, the information may contain errors and omissions. Therefore, all content provided is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be relied upon or used as a basis for consuming any plants or mushrooms.
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