Mushroom Profiles

About

Ready to learn about mushrooms? You're in the right place!

Just like you, as I started hiking in the woods in Pennsylvania (and mushroom foraging in the Czech Republic), I wanted to be able to identify the mushrooms I encountered, and learn about their habitat, characteristics, medicinal properties, and their use in the kitchen. During my hikes, I would take photos of the mushrooms to post to my @fungiwoman Instagram account, and over time, my captions slowly evolved from a simple ID to sharing information and interesting facts about the various mushrooms. These mushroom profiles organize all the piecemeal information I've learned over time on my journey, and are the result of my passion for mushrooms, photography, mycoeducation, writing, and design.

Accompanied by research citations and my own photography, my hope is that these mushroom profiles help you connect the words with real life examples. While all of my photography comes from western Pennsylvania and the South Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, the mushroom profiles are generally applicable to northeastern United States and/or Central Europe.

Each profile has the following sections:    

• Etymology: What can the mushroom name tell us?
• Taxonomic History: How has the classification of this mushroom changed over time?
• Ecology: What is the mushroom's relationship to its environment?
• Description: What are the macromorphological characteristics? 
• Distribution: Where does the mushroom grow?
• Similar Species: What are the lookalikes?
• Edibility and Taste: Is this mushroom edible? If so, what does it taste like?
• Cuisine: How can you use this mushroom in the kitchen?
• Medicinal Properties: What are the medicinal benefits, if any?
• ID Table: Get a quick summary of the main information. 

Mushroom Profiles