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
Bolbitius GenusCap slimy, deliquescing in maturity; striate, at least in maturity
Cap fragile, hollow
Yellow Bolbitius Section
Diagnosis
- Cap yellow at some stage in life
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Usually growing on manure or composted ground; sometimes on other vegetable litter
Narrow down your identification:
Bolbitius titubansCap up to 1" across; bright yellow orange when young, fading around the margin in age; plicate in maturity
Stalk sometimes yellow
Bolbitius variicolorCap up to 2 3/8" across; some shade (brownish or greyish) of olive, sometimes with yellowish orange tints
Stalk usually pale yellow; scurfy
Bolbitius vitellinusCap up to 2 3/4" across; some shade of yellow at first, fading to grey or brown in age, striate in age
Stalk sometimes yellow, often becoming deeper in color in age; often scurfy
