By Type

Mushrooms by Type: Shape as Your First ID Step

Field guides teach identification by shape, sorting mushrooms into gilled, chanterelle, bolete, morel, polypore and tooth forms. You start with the overall form of your find and the surface under its cap, then narrow the search to a species.

The Forms

Browse by shape

By edibility instead

Each type is a different way a mushroom makes and drops its spores. Recognizing the form is the first step of any identification.

Australian Honey Fungus, an example of the gilled form

Gilled

A cap with blade-like gills underneath. The classic form, spanning prized edibles and the deadliest species alike.

e.g. Australian Honey Fungus 56 species

Agarikon, an example of the polypore form

Polypore

Tough, shelf-like brackets on wood with pores underneath. Few are edible; most are woody or bitter.

e.g. Agarikon 10 species

Bitter Bolete, an example of the bolete form

Bolete

A spongy, pored underside instead of gills. Many are choice edibles; some contain toxic lookalikes.

e.g. Bitter Bolete 7 species

Morel, an example of the morel form

Morel

Honeycombed or brain-like caps. Includes true morels and their toxic false-morel lookalikes.

e.g. Morel 4 species

Black Trumpet, an example of the chanterelle form

Chanterelle

Funnel-shaped with blunt, forked false-gill ridges rather than true gills. A prized wild-edible group.

e.g. Black Trumpet 3 species

Hedgehog Mushroom, an example of the tooth form

Tooth

Spore-bearing spines or teeth instead of gills. Includes the unmistakable lion's mane.

e.g. Hedgehog Mushroom 2 species

Black Truffle, an example of the truffle form

Truffle

Subterranean fruiting bodies found by scent. Prized in cooking; require specialist knowledge to find and identify safely.

e.g. Black Truffle 2 species

Booted Amanita, an example of the amanita form

Amanita

Gilled mushrooms with a ring, a cup at the base, and white gills. This genus accounts for most fatal mushroom poisonings.

e.g. Booted Amanita 1 species

Cordyceps, an example of the club fungus form

Club Fungus

Simple club- or spindle-shaped fruiting bodies. Often confused with coral fungi; edibility is rarely established.

e.g. Cordyceps 1 species

Beautiful Clavaria, an example of the coral form

Coral

Branched, coral-like fruiting bodies. Several are edible; some cause reactions and toxic lookalikes exist.

e.g. Beautiful Clavaria 1 species

Blistered Cup, an example of the cup fungus form

Cup Fungus

Cup- or disc-shaped fruiting bodies, usually on soil or rotting wood. Some are edible; the false morel family contains deadly toxins.

e.g. Blistered Cup 1 species

Fool's Funnel, an example of the funnel form

Funnel

Funnel-shaped gilled mushrooms, usually on soil or leaf litter. Several are edible; others are toxic or cause reactions.

e.g. Fool's Funnel 1 species

Tremella, an example of the jelly fungus form

Jelly Fungus

Gelatinous, translucent or rubbery fungi found on wood. Most are edible or harmless.

e.g. Tremella 1 species

Woolly Milkcap, an example of the milkcap form

Milkcap

Gilled mushrooms that bleed a latex when cut. Edibility varies widely across the group; some are choice edibles, others bitter or toxic.

e.g. Woolly Milkcap 1 species

Angel Wing, an example of the oyster-like form

Oyster-like

Side-stemmed or stemless caps with decurrent gills, growing on wood. The true oyster mushroom is in this form.

e.g. Angel Wing 1 species

Common Earthball, an example of the puffball form

Puffball

Round bodies that release spores in a puff. Always cut one open to confirm it is solid white inside before eating.

e.g. Common Earthball 1 species

Blackening Waxcap, an example of the waxcap form

Waxcap

Brightly colored, waxy-capped mushrooms found in ancient grasslands. Most are inedible or of unknown safety.

e.g. Blackening Waxcap 1 species

Another way in Browse mushrooms by edibility
How to Read a Mushroom

Four features that place any species

Cap

Shape, color, texture, and how it changes with age.

Underside

True gills, false ridges, pores, or teeth: the single most useful clue.

Stem & base

A ring or a cup at the base can mark a deadly Amanita. Always dig up the whole base.

Spore print

The color of the dropped spores often separates safe species from dangerous ones.

How to take a spore print

Why shape comes before a name

Field guides sort mushrooms by form because you can read form before you know anything else about a find. The way a mushroom carries and drops its spores puts it into a broad type, and every identification starts from that type. Once you know it, you can open the matching hub and compare your mushroom with a much shorter list of members.

What is under the cap?

The underside of the cap carries the spore-bearing surface, and at this stage it tells you more than any other feature. Turn the mushroom over and look for these forms:

  • Gills: thin blades, the classic form and the one to know best
  • False ridges: blunt, forking folds, as on a chanterelle
  • Pores: a sponge-like surface, as on a porcini
  • Teeth: soft spines, as on lion's mane

Each surface leads to its own hub. Pores send you to the bolete hub when they sit under a fleshy cap, and to the polypore hub when they sit under a tough bracket on wood.

Soft spines lead to the tooth fungi, where the spines hang from a cap, a branch or a hanging fruit body. If the cap has pits like a honeycomb, your find belongs with the morel form, which you check by cutting it open.

Why does type matter for safety?

Type narrows the field and shows you where the danger sits. The gilled form holds both fine edibles and the deadliest species, so it demands the most care of any shape. The morel form has its own trap, because toxic false morels share the pitted cap. In every group, the type label only tells you which checks come next.

Warning

Two mushrooms of the same shape can differ completely in safety, so a good edible and a deadly species may share a form. Type is where identification starts, and it never clears a mushroom for eating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do field guides sort mushrooms by shape?

Form is the first thing you can read in the field. The overall shape and the spore-bearing surface place your mushroom in a broad group, and from there you narrow it to a species.

What is the most useful feature for identifying a mushroom's type?

Look under the cap. Gills, false ridges, pores and teeth each point to a different group, and they are among the most reliable early clues you have.

Not sure what you are holding?

Work through the identification guides and the dangerous-lookalike comparisons before you trust any find.

Identify a mushroom