Field vocabulary
Mushroom glossary
Concise definitions for terms used in species profiles and identification guides. Definitions describe vocabulary; they do not confirm a specimen’s identity or safety.
- Annulus
- A ring or ring zone on the stem left by a partial veil.
- Basidiocarp
- The spore-producing fruit body of a basidiomycete fungus.
- Decurrent
- Describes gills, folds, or pores that extend down the stem.
- Gill
- A plate-like fertile surface beneath the cap of many mushrooms.
- Hymenium
- The fertile tissue where spores are produced.
- Mycelium
- The network of fungal hyphae that grows through a substrate.
- Pileus
- The cap of a mushroom fruit body.
- Pore surface
- A fertile surface made of many small tube openings rather than gills.
- Saprotroph
- An organism that obtains nutrients by decomposing dead organic matter.
- Spore print
- A deposit of mature spores collected to observe their mass color.
- Stipe
- The stem or stalk supporting a mushroom cap.
- Substrate
- The material on or in which a fungus grows.
- Veil
- Protective tissue covering all or part of a developing mushroom.
- Volva
- A cup, sac, or patches at the stem base left by a universal veil.