common •[name]s

North American Macrofungi in English




folk taxonomy



about (click to hide/expand)
This is (a working version of) one possible folk taxonomy of macrofungi in North America.
Just as a Linnaean taxonomy organizes scientific names, a folk taxonomy can organize common names.
The folk-taxa listed on this page are more-or-less comprehensive.
Naturally, it can also form the basis of a key for identification.

Read more about this taxonomy here.

legend
text color indicates phylum:

  • Basidiomycota only
  • Ascomycota only
  • other phyla only
  • multiple phyla

text style indicates mushrooms:

  • includes mushrooms
  • does not include mushrooms
expand all

basidiomycote

higher mushrooms
  • has a cap
  • has gills, pores, teeth, or tubelets

→ species list →


crusts
  • effused
  • basidiomycote
  • not gelatinous
  • not a plantsicle
  • not a moldoid

→ species list →


mereoids
  • has a cap
  • does not have gills, pores, or teeth
  • i.e., merely a smooth (stereoid) or wrinkled (merulioid) fertile surface

→ species list →


pendants
  • one or more downward-hanging spines (teeth, branches, etc.)
  • unless the spines are non-gelatinous and on a cap (→higher mushroomstoothed caps)
  • or the spines are non-gelatinous and connected by a crust (→cruststoothcrusts)

→ species list →


clavarioids
  • basidiomycote
  • one or more upward/outward-pointing branches
  • unless the branches are gelatinous (→jelliesshaped jellies)
  • not hollow or chambered

→ species list →

interphylum

sequestroids
  • spores produced in
    • (an) enclosed, naked-eye visible chamber(s), or
    • many open, naked-eye visible chambers, which were initially closed and jumbled

→ species list →


jellies
  • gelatinous
  • no gills, pores, or teeth
  • not spine-like or coral-like

→ species list →


cupoids
  • cup- or disc-shaped
  • non-gelatinous
  • lacking gills, pores, or teeth

→ species list →


tresparasites
  • parasitic
  • fruiting conspicuously directly from the host
  • either:
    • (meta)host belongs to another kingdom, or
    • fruitbody is a mushroom

  • trespassing in another kingdom; French trés="very"

→ species list →


moldoids
  • no gills, pores, or teeth
  • at least two among:
    • mold-textured (powdery, wispy, cottony, diffuse)
    • mold-structured (non-horizontal filaments/cells, disconnected at least at the surface)
    • mold-related (Eurotiales, Erysiphaceae, zygomycote)
    • asexual

→ species list →


infertiles
  • does not produce spores
  • does not bud
  • does not undergo meiosis

→ species list →


fire squad
  • either
    • bright orange, or
    • fruiting from burn-sites
  • no cap
  • no stem
  • no pimples
  • not club-, cup-, or coral-like
  • not fruiting conspicuously directly from a living host
  • ~typical flesh

→ species list →

ascomycote

tongue mushrooms
  • ascomycote
  • cap-and-stem, ~tongue- or ~club-shaped
  • no gills, pores, teeth, or pimples
  • flesh not tough, fibrous or hard
  • ~rubbery surfaces

→ species list →


carbon fungi
  • largely black, white, brown, or wine
  • at least two among:
    • extensively jet black
    • tough-fibrous, hard, or conspicuously dry flesh
    • pimpled

→ species list →


moon fungi
  • pastel- or brightly-colored
  • pimpled
  • firm or typical flesh
  • often softly rounded
  • not fruiting conspicuously from a living non-fungal host
  • not a mushroom fruiting conspicuously from a living fungus

  • light-colored, gentle, rounded, peppered with "craters" (perithecia) →
    ~moon-like vibes

→ species list →

excluded

lichens
  • not bulky (ornate or thinly effused)
  • not fleshy (tough or papery)
  • dry
  • perennial
  • cool- or dull-colored, especially green
  • prominently exposed

→ species list →


dots
  • naked-eye visible
  • well under 2 mm in all dimensions

→ species list →


eumicrofungi
  • naked-eye invisible
  • detected via microscopy, sequencing, etc.

→ species list →


animal lesions
  • on living animals
  • fungal tissue invisible or inconspicuous

→ species list →


cultures
  • intentionally cultivated by humans, e.g. for
    • research
    • ingestion
    • industry
    • fun

→ species list →