Key to Gilled Mushrooms KeyThis is a key to gilled mushrooms, that is, mushrooms having a definite cap with a fertile surface consisting of gills. The fruiting body usually also has a stem, although that may be lateral or absent (usually, then, the mushroom is growing from wood). You can use this key to identify mushrooms that you find.
Agaricales OrderFruiting body containing fibers (usually in the stalk)
Brown, Olive, Orange or Tan Spored SuborderGills not free
Spore print tan, orange, deep ochre, yellowish olive, olive brown, rusty or cinnamon brown or deep brown
Ring usually either absent or not membranous
Terrestrial Brown Spored FamilyGrowing on the ground
Hebeloma GenusCap up to 4" across, but usually more like 1"; glabrous; some extremely nondescript shade of greyish brown
Stem fleshy
Gill edges often appear white, minutely fringed
Always mycorrhizal; almost always in forests
Non-veiled Hebeloma Section
Diagnosis
Narrow down your identification:
Hebeloma crustiliniformeCap up to 4 1/2" across; tacky when fresh or moist
Gills usually beaded with water droplets when fresh or moist, brown-spotted when dry
Odor (gills or crushed flesh) of radishes
Taste bitter, or just plain awful
Stalk scurfy at top; sometimes with fine white rhizomorphs at the base
Hebeloma sacchariolensCap up to 3" across, brownish to coffee-with-milk colored
Odor strong, sweet, fruity
Under pine
Hebeloma sinapizansCap up to 6" across; tacky when fresh or moist
Gills usually beaded with water droplets when fresh or moist, brown-spotted when dry
Odor and taste of radishes
Entire stalk covered with fine white scales; no rhizomorphs
