Browse Mushrooms

Gilled Mushrooms: Classic Shape and Safety Check

Gilled mushrooms are the shape most people picture, and the largest, most varied group on this site. That range puts prized edibles beside the deadliest species, so this form calls for the closest checking of any shape.

Species in this group

56 species

Australian honey fungus cluster with honey-brown scaled caps and ringed stems at a tree base

Australian Honey Fungus

Armillaria luteobubalina

Large orange big laughing gym cluster with rusty gills and ringed stems on decaying wood

Big Laughing Gym

Gymnopilus junonius

Large clay-brown bitter poisonpie with cinnamon gills and a coarse pale stem beneath beech

Bitter Poisonpie

Hebeloma sinapizans

Blackedge bonnet showing lilac-gray cap and dark-edged pale gills

Blackedge Bonnet

Mycena pelianthina

Blood-red webcap with red cap gills stem and cobwebby cortina in moss

Blood-Red Webcap

Cortinarius sanguineus

A brown roll-rim mushroom with an inrolled cottony cap margin and yellowish gills running down the stem

Brown Roll-Rim

Paxillus involutus

Burnt knight with wet chestnut cap notched pale gills and brown lower stem

Burnt Knight

Tricholoma ustale

Caesar's mushroom in oak leaf litter with a smooth bright orange cap, yellow gills and a loose white bag at the base

Caesar's Mushroom

Amanita caesarea

Small cinnamon webcaps with brown caps, orange gills and yellowish stems in moss

Cinnamon Webcap

Cortinarius cinnamomeus

Two club foot mushrooms showing pale decurrent gills and swollen lower stems in woodland litter

Club Foot

Ampulloclitocybe clavipes

Illustrated cluster of gray common inkcaps in different growth stages beside a decaying stump

Common Inkcap

Coprinopsis atramentaria

Small deadly dapperling mushrooms with pink-brown scaled caps and pale gills in damp soil

Deadly Dapperling

Lepiota brunneoincarnata

Pale deadly fibrecaps with fibrous caps and brick-red stains on soil beneath broadleaf trees

Deadly Fibrecap

Inosperma erubescens

A tight cluster of small tawny deadly galerina mushrooms growing from rotting wood

Deadly Galerina

Galerina marginata

Illustration of a reddish-brown deadly webcap with a dry cap and yellowish veil patches in mossy woodland

Deadly Webcap

Cortinarius rubellus

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

Death Cap

Amanita phalloides

A pure white destroying angel mushroom with free white gills, a skirt-like ring, and a sac around its base

Destroying Angel

Amanita bisporigera

Eastern flat-top Agaricus with a dark-scaled pale cap and slender ringed stem in leaf litter

Eastern Flat-Top Agaricus

Agaricus placomyces

Dense cluster of cultivated enoki mushrooms with hundreds of long slender white stems and tiny white caps

Enoki

Flammulina filiformis

False death cap mushroom in beech leaf litter with a pale lemon yellow cap carrying large white veil patches

False Death Cap

Amanita citrina

Felt-ringed agaricus mushrooms in western conifer woodland

Felt-Ringed Agaricus

Agaricus hondensis

White field mushrooms in short grazed pasture grass, one tipped over showing bright pink gills

Field Mushroom

Agaricus campestris

A bright red fly agaric mushroom covered in white cottony warts with a white ring and a banded swollen base

Fly Agaric

Amanita muscaria

Tiny fool's conecap mushrooms with cinnamon caps and slender ringed stems among wet wood chips

Fool's Conecap

Pholiotina rugosa

Fool's mushroom with a white cap, free gills, upper ring, and baglike volva in spring oak litter

Fool's Mushroom

Amanita verna

Fool's webcap with a dry tawny cap, rusty gills and a pale fibrous stem

Fool's Webcap

Cortinarius orellanus

Freckled dapperlings with pointed brown cap scales and ringed stems in woodland litter

Freckled Dapperling

Echinoderma asperum

Gemmed amanita in pine needle duff with a pale creamy yellow cap bearing soft white veil patches

Gemmed Amanita

Amanita gemmata

A cluster of pale cream ghost fungus caps on a eucalyptus stump in daylight, with crowded gills running down the stems

Ghost Fungus

Omphalotus nidiformis

A large white green-spored parasol with brown cap scales and a ringed stem growing in mown grass

Green-Spored Parasol

Chlorophyllum molybdites

Inky mushrooms with dark gray cap scales and yellow-stained stem bases

Inky Mushroom

Agaricus moelleri

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

Jack O'Lantern

Omphalotus illudens

A small tan liberty cap mushroom in grass with a conical cap and a sharp pointed tip

Liberty Cap

Psilocybe semilanceata

Lilac bonnet mushrooms with striate violet-gray caps and slender stems in woodland leaf litter

Lilac Bonnet

Mycena pura

Livid pinkgill with a large pale lobed cap, salmon gills, and ringless stem in broadleaf litter

Livid Pinkgill

Entoloma sinuatum

Matsutake mushroom in pine needle litter with a thick solid white stem and a white cap overlaid with flattened brown scales

Matsutake

Tricholoma matsutake

Overlapping gray oyster mushrooms growing on a hardwood log

Oyster Mushroom

Pleurotus ostreatus

A brown panther cap mushroom scattered with white cottony warts, showing white gills and a collared bulb at the stem base

Panther Cap

Amanita pantherina

Pale poison pie mushrooms with sticky caps and clay-brown gills in autumn woodland litter

Poison Pie

Hebeloma crustuliniforme

Robust rosy bonnet mushrooms with broad pink caps and pale stems in beech leaf litter

Rosy Bonnet

Mycena rosea

Saffron milk caps in pine needle litter, carrot orange funnel-shaped caps with darker concentric zones

Saffron Milk Cap

Lactarius deliciosus

Scaly inkcap cluster with gray-brown caps, small brown scales and darkening gills growing from a stump

Scaly Inkcap

Coprinopsis romagnesiana

Young shaggy mane mushroom standing in mown lawn grass with a tall white cylindrical shaggy cap

Shaggy Mane

Coprinus comatus

Shaggy parasol mushroom in leaf mould with a broad pale cap covered in coarse upturned brown scales

Shaggy Parasol

Chlorophyllum rhacodes

Fresh shiitake mushrooms with brown caps and white gills

Shiitake

Lentinula edodes

Sulphur knight mushroom in oak leaf litter with a bright sulphur yellow cap and slender yellow stem

Sulphur Knight

Tricholoma sulphureum

Dense sulphur tuft cluster with yellow caps and tan centers on a decaying stump

Sulphur Tuft

Hypholoma fasciculare

Tawny webcaps with dry yellow-brown caps and clubbed stems in conifer woodland

Tawny Webcap

Aureonarius callisteus

Blusher mushroom in beech leaf litter with a dull pinkish brown warty cap and hanging white ring

The Blusher

Amanita rubescens

Robust tiger knight mushrooms with gray-brown scaled caps and white stems on a forest floor

Tiger Knight

Tricholoma pardinum

Generated field-guide illustration of amber velvet shank caps with pale gills and dark lower stems clustered on winter wood

Velvet Shank

Flammulina velutipes

Western destroying angel with a white cap, free gills, fragile ring, and membranous volva in oak leaf litter

Western Destroying Angel

Amanita ocreata

Tiny white fibrecap with a pointed silky cap and slender ringless stem beside moss and a beech leaf

White Fibrecap

Inocybe geophylla

Wood blewit mushroom standing in brown beech leaf litter with a soft lilac violet cap and thick violet stem

Wood Blewit

Lepista nuda

A yellow knight mushroom with a greenish yellow cap and bright yellow gills growing in sandy soil

Yellow Knight

Tricholoma equestre

White-capped yellow stainer mushrooms with flattened tops growing in short lawn grass

Yellow Stainer

Agaricus xanthodermus

Poisonous

The classic form

Gilled mushrooms carry thin, blade-like plates under the cap. The gills make and drop the spores, and their color, spacing and attachment are core identification clues. Most people picture this shape when they hear the word mushroom, and it is also the largest group in this encyclopedia.

Why does the gilled form carry the highest stakes?

This form holds fine edibles and the most lethal mushrooms on earth. The deadly Amanitas carry gills too, among them the death cap and the destroying angel. Their gills give no warning, because they look as ordinary as the gills on a good edible.

Many favorites share the same form, including shiitake and the oyster mushroom, both grown on wood and sold in shops. Both kinds carry the same blades under the cap, so the shape on its own cannot sort them into safe and unsafe.

Warning

Because the gilled group is so broad, shape alone tells you almost nothing about safety. Always read the gills, ring, base, and spore print together.

What to check on the gills

Start with how the gills meet the stem, and compare what you see with the named gill attachment types. Then note how closely the gills sit together and what color they show. Next, take a spore print, because gill color and spore color are not always the same. Before you settle on any name, look for a ring on the stem and a sac at the base, since the deadly Amanitas carry those features.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are gilled mushrooms safe to eat?

Some are excellent to eat and some are deadly. Gilled is the broadest mushroom form, and it holds both fine edibles and the lethal Amanitas, so the shape alone tells you nothing about safety.

What should I check on a gilled mushroom?

Check how the gills attach to the stem, their spacing and color, whether there is a ring or a sac at the base, and the spore print. Those features together point to a species, and the shape alone never does.