The Database

All Mushrooms

Every mushroom profile, grouped by edibility. Each one carries a color-coded safety banner and, where it matters, its dangerous lookalikes.

Jump to Choice Edible Edible Edible with Caution Medicinal Poisonous
Choice

Choice Edible

1 species

Prized edible mushrooms sought by cooks and foragers for flavor and texture.

A cluster of golden chanterelle mushrooms on a mossy forest floor

Chanterelle

Cantharellus cibarius

A chanterelle is worth learning because its best edible traits are also its safety checks. Look for…

Choice
Edible

Edible

2 species

Safe to eat when properly identified and cooked. Good everyday table mushrooms.

Overlapping gray oyster mushrooms growing on a hardwood log

Oyster Mushroom

Pleurotus ostreatus

Oyster mushrooms are one of the best beginner edibles because the growth pattern is so practical…

Edible
Fresh shiitake mushrooms with brown caps and white gills

Shiitake

Lentinula edodes

Shiitake is a cultivated hardwood mushroom with a deep savory flavor. The practical rule is simple…

Edible
Caution

Edible with Caution

1 species

Edible only after specific preparation (thorough cooking, parboiling) or for some people cause reactions.

Yellow morel mushrooms with honeycomb caps on a spring forest floor

Morel

Morchella esculenta

A morel is a spring edible with a strict safety routine. The lengthwise hollow test comes before…

Caution
Medicinal

Medicinal

1 species

Used as a supplement or functional food rather than a culinary vegetable.

A white, shaggy Lion's Mane mushroom with cascading spines on a tree trunk

Lion's Mane

Hericium erinaceus

Lion's Mane is the white tooth fungus that looks like a shaggy pom-pom on hardwood. It is easy to…

Medicinal
POISONOUS

Poisonous

3 species

Toxic and dangerous. Some species in this group are deadly.

A pale greenish Death Cap mushroom showing white gills, a ring, and a cup-like base

Death Cap

Amanita phalloides

The death cap is the mushroom you identify to avoid. If a white-gilled Amanita has a ring on the…

POISONOUS
A reddish-brown false morel with a brain-like wrinkled cap

False Morel

Gyromitra esculenta

False morel is a spring mushroom to reject, not experiment with. The key warning is brain-like…

POISONOUS
A cluster of bright orange Jack O'Lantern mushrooms growing on a stump

Jack O'Lantern

Omphalotus illudens

A Jack O'Lantern is the orange mushroom you learn so you can reject it fast. The field pattern is…

POISONOUS

The full mushroom database

This is the master index of every species on KnowTheSpore, grouped by edibility so the first thing you see about any mushroom is whether it can hurt you.

How to use it

Search by name, or jump to a tier and browse. Each card shows the common and scientific name and an edibility badge, and links to a full safety-first profile.

Warning

A profile teaches you a species. It cannot confirm the mushroom in your hand. Never eat a wild mushroom on an online match alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the mushroom database organised?
By edibility, from choice edible down to poisonous, so the safety of a species is the first thing you see. You can also search by common or scientific name.
What is on each mushroom profile?
A safety banner, identification features, dangerous lookalikes, habitat and season, and culinary, medicinal, or growing notes where they apply, all reviewed by a mycologist.
Can I identify my mushroom from this database?
It is a reference, not an identification service. Use it to learn a species, but confirm any wild mushroom in person with an expert before eating it.