The great North America mushroom guide

Bitter taste; dark net pattern on a pale stem and pink pores (the cep has a pale net on a brownish stem with white/yellow pores). Tasting a small piece reveals its bitterness.

Red pores and red stem, bruises blue; poisonous. General rule: avoid boletes with red pores or that bruise strongly blue.

Blues immediately when cut and has red/orange pores. Porcini flesh stays white and does not change.

The white net pattern (reticulation) on the upper stalk and the non-bluing pores distinguish Boletus edulis.

Much of the commercial Chilean "porcini" export is actually Suillus and native boletes rather than true B. edulis; the trade name is applied broadly.

Has a double veil and amyloid spores; only a mediocre edible, not the prized matsutake.

Grows in tight clusters at or near buried wood or tree bases (not from soil mycorrhizally); has true thin, crowded, knife-blade gills (not blunt forking ridges); orange without pink blush; bioluminescent in darkness; flesh does not smell of apricot. Causes severe gastrointestinal illness.

Has thin, crowded, repeatedly forking true gills (not blunt ridges); cap often more intensely orange to orange-red with a velvety texture and incurved margin even in age; lacks apricot scent; flesh thin and insubstantial; causes mild gastrointestinal upset.

Much smaller; cap brown to grey-brown, not golden-yellow; stem yellow-orange but hollow; ridges grey-lilac; grows in sphagnum or wet moss; easily distinguished by size, colour, and hollow stem.

Very similar chanterelle co-occurring in the Pacific Northwest; typically lacks the rosy-pink to salmon flush on the cap; more closely associated with hemlock and fir rather than Sitka spruce; equally choice edible - confusion is gastronomically harmless.

Deep vase- to funnel-shaped with a scaly or shaggy orange-red cap surface; ridges are white and deeply decurrent; lacks the pinkish-golden smooth cap of C. roseocanus; may cause gastrointestinal upset in some people.

The cap hangs free, attached to the stem only at the top. In a true morel the cap is attached to the stem along its lower edge and the whole body is hollow.

L. deliciosus has bright carrot-orange latex (not dark blood-red) from the first instant of cutting, and develops vivid, rapid green staining on cut surfaces - more intense and faster than in L. rubrilacteus. Cap banding is more vivid orange-carrot. Both are edible; confusion is harmless but worth resolving for accurate ID records.

Very similar latex colour but L. semisanguifluus has latex that begins pale orange and only slowly (5-15 minutes) darkens to wine-red. In L. rubrilacteus the latex is immediately and intensely dark blood-red. L. semisanguifluus is primarily a Mediterranean and European species; range overlap with L. rubrilacteus is limited.

A different Pacific Northwest milkcap, L. rubidus (candy cap) has a much smaller, thin-fleshed pale orange-brown cap and exudes sparse, watery, pale-coloured latex with no blood-red character. Fresh specimens smell faintly sweet; dried specimens develop a powerful maple-syrup aroma - entirely absent in L. rubrilacteus. A very different species in practice.

White cap, white gills, copious white latex that is intensely acrid-peppery. No orange, red, or reddish-brown colouration at all. Shares some conifer and mixed-forest habitat. Separated immediately by colour and burning taste.

Very large, white, velvety-tomentose cap; white acrid latex; no colour resemblance whatsoever. Inedible (acrid, mildly toxic raw). Distinguished instantly by white colour, velvety cap texture, and strongly peppery-bitter taste.

Smaller and more orange than H. repandum; equally edible.

Can resemble a pale chanterelle from a distance, but the spiny underside of Hydnum (versus chanterelle's blunt ridges/false gills) tells them apart. Both edible.

Resembles the hedgehog from above, but the chanterelle has blunt ridges/false gills rather than the hedgehog's spines.

Gelatinous with rubbery spines.

Scaly, darker in colour, and can be bitter.

Entirely golden-yellow to egg-yolk orange with no lilac tints; grows as separate individuals not in dense fused tufts; cap less deeply funnel-shaped and less irregular; edible and choice.

Grey to black, thin-fleshed, hollow throughout, no lilac ridges; grows as individual fruitbodies, not tufted clusters; no confusion risk when seen side-by-side.

North American only; much larger vase shape; interior surface has coarse orange-red to salmon scales; considered mildly toxic (GI irritant); lacks the lilac ridge colouration entirely.

Has a slimy cap and true gills (decurrent but distinct), grey to purplish-grey cap; associated with Suillus and spruce; very different slimy texture and true gill structure; edible but mediocre.

Branched coral-like structure with wine-red to pink-tipped branches; entirely different branched form from the funnel-shaped Gomphus clavatus; mildly laxative if eaten in quantity. No realistic confusion for an observer who examines the fruitbody.

Stains strongly yellow at the stem base and smells of phenol/ink/iodine; the most common cause of mushroom poisoning.

Edible Asian mushroom that has caused several deaths among East/Southeast Asian migrants through confusion with the death cap. Both have a volva; check gill colour (straw mushroom develops pink to brown gills and a pink spore print, whereas the death cap has white gills and a white amyloid spore print).

Edible Amanita that can be confused with the death cap; distinguish by colour and spore features, but never rely on colour alone.

Agaricus species have pink-to-brown gills and a dark spore print and lack a volva, whereas the death cap has white gills, a white spore print and a sac-like volva at the base.

Native species (A. austrophalloides, A. marmorata, A. murina, A. murinaster) with a sac-like volva, ring and amyloid spores are untested but likely toxic; do not eat.

Young death cap buttons resemble Agaricus and puffballs, but Agaricus has pink to chocolate-brown gills, a brown spore print and no volva; the death cap always has white gills, a white spore print and a sac-like volva.

The green/greenish-yellow death cap form can be confused with green Russula species; check for the white free gills, ring and sac-like volva, which Russula lacks.

Russulas lack a volva and a ring; always dig up the base to check for the sac-like volva and look for the skirt-like ring and white free gills of the Death Cap.

Agaricus has pink to brown gills (not white) and no volva; the Death Cap has white free gills and a sac-like volva at the stem base.

Agarics lack a sac-like basal volva and have pink-to-brown gills and a brown spore print; the death cap has white free gills, a white spore print, and a volva in the soil.

The pale form of the death cap can be mistaken for puffballs; cutting a puffball reveals uniform white flesh, whereas a young death cap button shows the outline of a developing capped mushroom.

Green russulas lack a ring and volva and have brittle flesh.

Easily confused at the young, egg-like stage; always dig up the base and check the diagnostic combination of white gills + white ring + white sac-like volva.

Field mushrooms have pink to brown gills (not the death cap's white gills) and lack a basal volva/sac.

Distinguished by the death cap's combination of ring plus volva and its olive-green cap colour.

Young egg-stage Death Caps can resemble puffballs; always slice any 'puffball' in half - a developing mushroom with cap, gills and stem inside means it is not a puffball.

In Chile, warnings are given about confusing the death cap with Macrolepiota; look for the death cap's volva, ring and greenish cap with white gills.

In Chile, warnings are given about confusion with Russula; Russula lacks a ring and volva.

In Chile, warnings are given about confusion with Agaricus; Agaricus has a ring but no volva and develops pinkish-to-brown gills with a brown spore print, unlike the death cap's persistently white gills.

In Chile, warnings are given about confusion with Tricholoma; Tricholoma lacks the ring and volva of the death cap.

Locally eaten edible Amanita (also A. loosii); the central confusion in African ethnomycology - the deadly white Amanita are mistaken for these.

An unopened white egg-stage deadly Amanita can resemble a puffball; cut it in half - a developing capped mushroom outline reveals the Amanita.

A globally risky lookalike that also has a volva; check for the ring (present in Amanita, absent in Volvariella) and spore colour (white in Amanita, pinkish in Volvariella).

Same deadly section (Phalloideae) by appearance but lacks the toxins and is eaten locally in Rwanda/Burundi/Tanzania; cannot be told apart by eye alone, underscoring why species-level knowledge is essential.

Edible; lacks a ring and has a striate (grooved) cap margin.

Also known as A. calyptroderma; has a darker cap.

Young Agaricus can be confused with young (egg-stage) specimens; Agaricus has pink-to-brown gills and lacks a volva.

Young egg-stage specimens can resemble puffballs; cut in half to reveal the developing mushroom with cap, gills, and stem inside.

The edible parasol has white gills and a white spore print; Chlorophyllum molybdites develops grayish-green to green gills and a green spore print at maturity.

The shaggy parasol has white gills and a white spore print, not the green gills/green spore print of Chlorophyllum molybdites.

Shaggy mane gills turn black and deliquesce (dissolve into ink) rather than turning green, and it produces a black spore print.

The green spore print distinguishes C. molybdites from related Chlorophyllum species.

Edible termite-associated mushrooms; confusion documented especially in Asia, and considered a risk even for T. titanicus per field guides. Check for the green spore print of C. molybdites.

True parasol mushrooms have a white spore print and white gills; Chlorophyllum molybdites has a greenish to grey-green spore print and greenish gills in age.

Distinguish by spore print colour and the presence of a stem ring (Volvariella lacks one and has a volva).

Edible; grows on wood but gives a white spore print, whereas funeral bell gives a rust-brown spore print.

Edible; also grows on wood. Distinguish by spore print (rust-brown in funeral bell) and overall features. Many fatalities have occurred from picking funeral bell along with this species.

Edible wood-growing mushroom that can be confused with Galerina marginata; lacks the fragile ring and has white spore powder rather than rust-brown.

Wood-dwelling like Galerina; very different in appearance, but beginners can mistake it.

Small brown hallucinogenic mushrooms that can be dangerously confused with deadly Galerina.

Edible small brown-gilled mushrooms can resemble Galerina marginata; confirm features carefully before eating any small brown mushroom from wood.

Psilocybe has a purple-brown to black spore print and bruises blue; galerina has a rust-brown print and does not bruise blue. At least one death in the PNW resulted from confusing galerina with Psilocybe stuntzii.

Flammulina velutipes has a white spore print.

Native Australian species, eucalyptus-associated, lacking white warts and a ring.

Caesar's mushroom (edible, southern Europe) has a yellow cap, yellow gills and yellow stem; a young rain-washed fly agaric lacking warts could theoretically be confused with it, but the fly agaric has white gills and white stem.

At the button stage the fly agaric is a white ball that can resemble a puffball; cut it lengthwise to reveal the developing cap, gills and stem of the agaric.

Brown cap with white warts, ring, and banded volva; the more toxic of the two and can be confused by inexperienced foragers with edible grey- or brown-capped species.

The red color plus white warts plus a volva at the base distinguish the fly agaric; rely on these warning features even when the cap color has faded.