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Mushroom guides — page 5

Earlier MushroomScope guides, ordered by their latest substantive publication or update date.

AI editorial image of translucent yellow witch's butter jelly fungus growing from a rain-darkened hardwood branch

mushrooms

Witch's Butter Fungus: Yellow Jelly, Hosts, and Lookalikes

Document witch's butter by yellow gelatinous folds, wet-to-dry change, hardwood attachment, host-fungus ecology, microscopy, and jelly-fungus lookalikes.
Original editorial illustration supporting mushroom bruising and color changes explained without serving as identification evidence

identification

Mushroom Bruising and Color Changes Explained

Document mushroom bruising by location, trigger, timing, and color while separating oxidation from age, spores, latex, and damage.
Original editorial image illustrating mushroom tissue cloning: from inner tissue to a clean culture

growing

Mushroom Tissue Cloning: From Inner Tissue to a Clean Culture

Clone cultivated mushroom tissue to agar with realistic sterility limits, donor selection, transfer tracking, contamination triage, and identity safeguards.
Fresh shiitake and oyster mushrooms beside research notes and a magnifying glass on a naturally lit table

health

Mushrooms and the Immune System: Research Explained

Understand mushrooms and immune research with beta-glucans, study limits, supplement cautions, food use, and conservative medical guidance.
Original AI-generated editorial illustration of a vivid orange-red lobster mushroom with a bumpy crust in damp woodland leaf litter

mushrooms

Lobster Mushroom (Hypomyces lactifluorum): Identification and Safety

Learn how lobster mushrooms form, their orange crust and altered gills, woodland habitat, lookalikes, host uncertainty, and food-safety limits.
Pale Phoenix oyster mushrooms fruiting in a layered cluster from a fallen hardwood log

mushrooms

Phoenix Oyster Mushroom: Warm-Season Ecology and Cultivation

Learn how Phoenix oyster differs from other Pleurotus, with warm-season hardwood ecology, cultivation variables, lookalikes, cooking, and safety limits.
An unidentified brown mushroom, a matching collected specimen, and a closed field notebook on a damp forest floor

identification

Mushroom Odor in Identification: How to Record It Safely

Learn to record mushroom odor safely, compare fresh and cut tissue, control for handling, and never treat smell as an identification or edibility test.
Original editorial image for spent mushroom substrate: reuse, compost, and safe disposal

growing

Spent Mushroom Substrate: Reuse, Compost, and Safe Disposal

Assess spent mushroom substrate for compost, mulch, soil trials, second flushes, contamination isolation, salt and nutrient limits, and local disposal.
Cream-white lion's mane mushroom with cascading spines fruiting from hardwood

mushrooms

Hericium erinaceus: Lion’s Mane Mushroom Species Guide

Learn lion’s mane identification, hardwood ecology, cultivation, nutrition, supplement evidence, lookalikes, safety limits, and practical FAQs.
Four glossy brown slippery jack boletes growing upright beneath a pine tree

mushrooms

Slippery Jack: Viscid Cap, Pine Partnership, and Safety

Recognize slippery jack by its viscid brown cap, yellow pores and ring, while documenting pine ecology, lookalikes, handling limits, and food safety.
AI editorial image of three collared earthstars with split rays and central spore sacs on woodland litter

mushrooms

Collared Earthstar: Rays, Spore Sac, and Field Records

Document Geastrum triplex by its split outer rays, central spore sac, collar, apical pore, woodland litter, maturity changes, and earthstar lookalikes.
AI editorial illustration of smooth gray common inky caps clustered beside a decaying hardwood stump

mushrooms

Common Inky Cap: Alcohol Interaction, Habitat, and Lookalikes

Identify common inky cap by smooth gray clustered caps, buried-wood ecology, black deliquescence, and its important delayed alcohol interaction.
Two red-brown pine boletes with thick pale stems among moss and pine needles

mushrooms

Pine Bolete: Red-Brown Cap, Pine Ecology, and Lookalikes

Document pine bolete caps, pores, stem reticulation, pine-associated ecology, regional lookalikes, food-safety limits, and why cultivation is difficult.
AI editorial image of scarlet red cup fungi attached to a mossy fallen hardwood branch in spring woodland

mushrooms

Scarlet Elf Cup: Red Cups, Dead Wood, and Species Limits

Document scarlet elf cups by red cup shape, pale outer surface, buried hardwood attachment, spring timing, microscopy limits, and regional Sarcoscypha species.
AI editorial illustration of white shaggy mane mushrooms progressing from cylindrical caps to black deliquescent margins

mushrooms

Shaggy Mane Mushroom: Deliquescence, Habitat, and Lookalikes

Identify shaggy mane by its tall white scaled cap, free gills that dissolve from the margin, ringed stem, black spores, habitat, and lookalikes.
Overlapping gray oyster mushroom clusters growing on a fallen hardwood log

mushrooms

Pleurotus ostreatus: Oyster Mushroom Identification and Growing Guide

A careful guide to Pleurotus ostreatus identification, habitat, home cultivation, nutrition, lookalikes, food safety, and research limitations.
Brown-capped shiitake mushrooms fruiting from an inoculated hardwood log

mushrooms

Lentinula edodes: Shiitake Mushroom Identification and Cultivation

An evidence-aware guide to shiitake identification, hardwood cultivation, nutrition, dermatitis risk, safe cooking, classification, and FAQs.
Thin zoned turkey tail brackets overlapping on fallen hardwood

mushrooms

Trametes versicolor: Turkey Tail Mushroom Species Guide

Learn Trametes versicolor identification, pore features, hardwood habitat, cultivation, extract evidence, lookalikes, supplement safety, and FAQs.