Mushroom look-alikes: how to tell them apart
The mistakes that put foragers in hospital, compared feature by feature. No single feature is enough: check them all.
Bitter bolete vs porcini: how to tell them apart
Bitter bolete vs porcini (penny bun, king bolete): pink pores, a dark net on the stem and a bitter taste separate the inedible Tylopilus from the choice Boletus edulis.
Read → Choice edibleNot edibleChanterelle vs false chanterelle: how to tell them apart
Chanterelle vs false chanterelle: blunt cross-veined ridges and firm flesh, or thin repeatedly forked orange gills on conifer debris. Check every feature.
Read → Choice ediblePoisonousChanterelle vs jack-o'-lantern: how to tell them apart
Chanterelle vs jack-o'-lantern: chanterelles have blunt forked ridges and grow from soil. Jack-o'-lanterns have sharp true gills and grow in clusters on wood.
Read → EdiblePoisonousChicken of the woods vs jack-o'-lantern: how to tell them apart
Chicken of the woods vs jack-o'-lantern: stemless brackets with tiny pores underneath, or stemmed funnel caps with sharp gills. Both grow on wood.
Read → DeadlyChoice edibleDeadly webcap vs chanterelle: how to tell them apart
Deadly webcap vs chanterelle: the webcap has rusty true gills, a cobweb veil, a rusty print and a patterned stem. Symptoms start days later; kidney failure.
Read → DeadlyDeadlyDeath cap vs destroying angel: how to tell them apart
Death cap vs destroying angel: both are deadly amatoxin Amanitas with white gills, a ring and a sack at the base. Cap colour differs; the danger does not.
Read → PoisonousEdibleEarthball vs puffball: how to tell them apart
Earthball vs puffball: the thick leathery skin, purple-black interior and hard feel that separate the poisonous earthball from an edible puffball. Cut it first.
Read → EdiblePoisonousField mushroom vs yellow stainer: how to tell them apart
Field mushroom vs yellow stainer: the chrome-yellow stem base, the chemical smell and the gill colors that separate the edible Agaricus from the poisonous one.
Read → EdibleDeadlyGiant puffball vs young Amanita: how to tell them apart
Giant puffball vs young amanita: cut every puffball top to bottom. Pure white inside means puffball; the outline of a cap and gills means an Amanita egg.
Read → Choice edibleEdibility unknownHen of the woods vs black-staining polypore: how to tell them apart
Hen of the woods vs black-staining polypore: cap size, frond thickness, pore size and the black bruising that separates maitake from Meripilus at the base of an oak.
Read → EdibleDeadlyHoney fungus vs deadly galerina: how to tell them apart
Honey fungus vs deadly galerina: both are brown, ringed and clustered on wood. Honey fungus drops a white spore print; the galerina a rusty brown one, plus amatoxins.
Read → EdibleDeadlyMeadow mushroom vs destroying angel: how to tell them apart
Meadow mushroom vs destroying angel: gill color, spore print, the sac at the base and why young buttons are the dangerous stage. Symptoms are delayed 6 to 24 hours.
Read → Choice edibleDeadlyMorel vs false morel: how to tell them apart
Morel vs false morel: a true morel is hollow from cap to base with a pitted cap fused to the stem. A false morel is chambered inside, with a lobed, brain-like cap.
Read → EdiblePoisonousParasol mushroom vs false parasol: how to tell them apart
Parasol mushroom vs false parasol (green-spored parasol): the green spore print, grey-green gills, the smooth stem and where each grows. Shaggy parasol covered too.
Read → EdiblePoisonousShaggy mane vs inky cap: how to tell them apart
Shaggy mane vs inky cap: shaggy white scales, smooth grey caps, clusters on buried wood, and the alcohol reaction that makes the common inky cap poisonous for days.
Read →
Try Mycoscout
A mushroom identifier that shows the edibility verdict first, admits when it is unsure, and names the dangerous look-alikes.
On a computer?Scan to get it on your phone.
Free download · 3 free identifications, then Mycoscout Pro