Identity Parade

Pictures, habitat descriptions, spore print colours, and macroscopic / microscopic dentifying features of more than 400 species from the most common groups of fungi, with links to thumbnails and identification guides for individual species:

Field mushrooms and their relatives
Agaricaceae		 Amanita fungi
Amanitaceae 		Bolbitiaceae
Bolbitiaceae		 Boletes and their relatives
Boletales		 Poriales and other Bracket Fungi
Bracket Fungi		 Chanterelles and related species
Cantharellales
Clavariaceae
Clavariaceae		 Cortinariaceae
Cortinariaceae		 Dacrymycetaceae
Dacrymycetaceae		 Entolomataceae
Entolomataceae		 Puffballs, Earthstars, Stalkballs and Earthballs
Gasteromycetes		 Waxcaps
Hygrophoraceae
Inocybaceae
Inocybaceae		 Jelly Fungi
Jelly Fungi		 Lyophyllaceae
Lyophyllaceae		 Marasmiaceae
Marasmiaceae		 Pleurotaceae
Pleurotaceae		 Pluteaceae
Pluteaceae
Ink Caps and their relatives
Psathyrellaceae		 Russulas and Milk Caps
Russulaceae		 Strophariaceae (Pholoitas and relatives) plus Bolbitiaceae
Strophariaceae		 Tricholomas and their relatives
Tricholomataceae		 Cup and Flask fungi
Ascomycetes		  

Mycologists arrange fungi into classes > orders > families > genera > species. Fungus orders and families are the basis for most of the Identification sections of this Guide.

For ease of use we have grouped all jelly fungi (heterobasidiomycetes) together. Similarly all bracket and crust fungi are also grouped, as also are the various puffballs, earthballs, earthstars and stiltballs that, together with stinkhorns, are by tradition called gasteromycetes (even though there is no scientific justification for their being categorised together other than the fact that they all produce spores inside some kind of ball or 'stomach').

Only the most common families are included in the table above; however, full details of hundreds of species, arranged alphabetically in their mycological families, can be accessed via our Fungi Family Index Page...

Go on: try our Fungi Knowledge Quiz...

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If you have taken pictures of beautiful, unusual or just plain weird fungi and would be willing to have them shown on the First Nature website (with proper acknowledgement to you, of course) to help other people learn more about and enjoy the fascination of fungi, please see our Contributors page...