Mushrooms By Family
A scientific family groups mushrooms that share deep traits, from spore structure to how the fruit body develops. Those shared traits are what a forager actually reads in the field.
Choose a group
Amanitaceae
Booted Amanita, Caesar's Mushroom, Death Cap, Destroying Angel
11 speciesAgaricaceae
Eastern Flat-Top Agaricus, Field Mushroom, Green-Spored Parasol, Shaggy Mane
10 speciesBoletaceae
Bitter Beech Bolete, Bitter Bolete, Brawny Bolete, Bronze Bolete
6 speciesTricholomataceae
Burnt Knight, Matsutake, Sulphur Knight, Wood Blewit
6 speciesHymenogastraceae
Autumn Skullcap, Big Laughing Gym, Bitter Poisonpie, Deadly Galerina
5 speciesMorchellaceae
Morel, Black Morel, Gray Morel, Half-Free Morel
4 speciesCortinariaceae
Blood-Red Webcap, Deadly Webcap, Fool's Webcap
3 speciesOmphalotaceae
Ghost Fungus, Jack O'Lantern, Shiitake
3 speciesPhysalacriaceae
Australian Honey Fungus, Enoki, Velvet Shank
3 speciesCantharellaceae
Chanterelle, White Chanterelle
2 speciesFomitopsidaceae
Birch Polypore, Red-Belted Conk
2 speciesGanodermataceae
Reishi, Antler Reishi
2 speciesHydnaceae
Black Trumpet, Hedgehog Mushroom
2 speciesHymenochaetaceae
Chaga, Mesima
2 speciesInocybaceae
Deadly Fibrecap, White Fibrecap
2 speciesPaxillaceae
Brown Roll-Rim, Copper Roll Rim
2 speciesPolyporaceae
Turkey Tail, Poria
2 speciesRussulaceae
Saffron Milk Cap, Woolly Milkcap
2 speciesTuberaceae
Black Truffle, White Truffle
2 speciesBolbitiaceae
Fool's Conecap
1 speciesClitocybaceae
Ivory Funnel
1 speciesDiscinaceae
False Morel
1 speciesEntolomataceae
Livid Pinkgill
1 speciesGomphaceae
Beautiful Clavaria
1 speciesGrifolaceae
Maitake
1 speciesHericiaceae
Lion's Mane
1 speciesHygrophoraceae
Blackening Waxcap
1 speciesLaetiporaceae
Chicken of the Woods
1 speciesLaricifomitaceae
Agarikon
1 speciesMycenaceae
Blackedge Bonnet
1 speciesOphiocordycipitaceae
Cordyceps
1 speciesPezizaceae
Blistered Cup
1 speciesPhyllotopsidaceae
Angel Wing
1 speciesPleurotaceae
Oyster Mushroom
1 speciesPsathyrellaceae
Common Inkcap
1 speciesSclerodermataceae
Common Earthball
1 speciesStrophariaceae
Sulphur Tuft
1 speciesSuillaceae
Slippery Jack
1 speciesTremellaceae
Tremella
1 speciesWhy family is a safety axis, not just taxonomy
Learn a family and you learn a pattern. The Amanita pattern, a swollen base sitting in a sac, is worth more to your safety than memorising a hundred single species.
A family tells you what to check first and what mistake to fear. That is why field guides teach it early.
The families that hurt people
Two families cause a large share of serious poisonings. Amanitaceae holds the death cap and the destroying angels, behind most fatal cases worldwide. Discinaceae holds the false morels, whose toxin cooking does not reliably remove.
If you learn nothing else here, learn to recognize those two.
The families worth foraging
Most prized wild edibles cluster in a few friendlier families.
- Cantharellaceae, the chanterelles, with blunt false ridges instead of true gills
- Morchellaceae, the true morels, hollow from tip to base
- Pleurotaceae, the oysters, growing in shelving clusters on wood
- Hericiaceae, the lion's mane, a cascade of white spines and no dangerous lookalikes
How to use this page
Pick a family to see what defines it, which species belong, and the lookalikes that matter. Check the species-specific safety advice and dangerous lookalikes before you consider eating a find.
Warning
Family narrows the field, it does not clear a mushroom for the plate. Never eat a wild mushroom on a family match alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a mushroom family?
Which mushroom family is the most dangerous?
Can I identify a mushroom from its family alone?
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Compare mushrooms by edibility and shape, or browse the complete A-Z list.
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