Mushroom Identification Tips: Look Under the Cap
| Mushroom Resources Bolete Mushrooms Morel Mushroom Red Waxy Cap Types of Mushrooms |
The structure of the underside of a mushroom with a cap is one common field mark used to identify its order, family or genus. Generally mushrooms with caps have either gills, pores or teeth on the underside.
Bolete mushrooms, the common name given to mushrooms in the order Boletales, generally share the physical characteristic of having pores, rather than gills under the cap. Species in the genus boletus, which includes the King Bolete, are probably the best known.
The picture shows a bolete in the genus Suillus. Sometimes one or all Suillus species are referred to as Slippery Jacks because of the presence of a wet or sticky substance on the top of young specimens.
Mushroom identification during wet periods might make for problematic identification. Knowing that Suillus are also characterized as growing under coniferous trees and having a honeycomb shaped pore pattern helps with rainy day identification.
By far, the gilled mushrooms are the largest group of mushrooms, flipping over the cap is the easiest way to see the gills. The thousands of existing species, makes any particular species difficult to identify. The link to the Red Waxy Cap provides some tips for identifying one specific genus of gilled mushrooms.
Toothed mushrooms get their name from the small spine or tooth like particles under the cap. They are not a scientific group of mushrooms, but a group of terrestrial and shelf mushrooms that share the tooth characteristic.
The picture on the left shows a ground growing toothed mushroom, probably Hydnum repandum, commonly known as the hedgehog mushroom.
Still other mushrooms such as the Morel Mushroom and coral mushrooms, lack a traditional mushroom cap. Fortunately, they have a distinctive look that makes for easy initial field identification. You can guess the mushroom genus more easily than guessing the species.
The links in the box point to articles that also help with mushroom identification.
© 2007. Patricia A. Michaels. All Rights Reserved.