Mushroom structure

These emerging mushrooms are too immature to safely identify the species
the relative sizes of the cap and the pileus vary widely.
Identifying mushrooms requires a basic understanding of their macroscopic structure. A "typical" mushroom consists of a cap or pileus supported
on a stem or stipe. Both can have a variety of

shapes and be ornamented in various ways. The underside of the cap (in agarics) is fitted with gills or lamellae where the actual spores are produced. How the gills are attached is another important characteristic used in identification. In the boletes, the gills are replaced by small openings called pores. Bracket fungi essentially lack a stipe, and the cap is attached like a bracket to the substratum, usually a log or tree trunk. Some bracket fungi have gills, others have pores.

In general, identification to genus can be accomplished in the field using a local mushroom guide. Identification to species, however, requires more effort; one must remember that a mushroom develops from a young bud into a mature structure and only the latter can provide certain identification of the species. Examination of mature spores, or at least knowing their color, is often essential. To this end, a common method used to assist in identification is the spore print.
Apical germ pore

Apical Germ Pore is a term applied to mushroom spores which have a pore at one end. Some spores have a hole in the cell wall where the first strand of germinating mycelium emerges. If the cell wall is divided from one end to the other, this is called a germ slit. Commonly the germ pore is at one end of the mushroom spore and is called an apical pore.
Mushroom genera with apical germ pores include Agrocybe, Panaeolus, Psilocybe,
and Pholiota.

Mushroom

Types of mushrooms

Types of mushrooms

Mushrooms are often dried in order to preserve them for use in cooking.

The main types of mushrooms are agarics (including the button mushroom, the most common mushroom eaten in the U.S.), boletes, chanterelles, tooth fungi, polypores, puffballs, jelly fungi, coral fungi, bracket fungi, stinkhorns, and cup fungi. Mushrooms and other fungi are studied by mycologists. The "true" mushrooms are classified as Basidiomycota (also known as "club fungi"). A few mushrooms are classified by mycologists as Ascomycota (or "sac fungi"), the morel and truffle being good examples. Thus, the term mushroom is more one of common application to macroscopic fungal fruiting bodies than one having precise taxonomic meaning.

Mushrooms
Edible mushrooms are used extensively in cooking, in many cuisines. Though commonly thought to contain little nutritional value, many varieties of mushrooms are high in fiber and protein, and provide vitamins such as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, biotin, B₁₂ and ascorbic acid, and minerals including iron, selenium, potassium and phosphorus. However, a number of species of mushrooms are poisonous, and these may resemble edible varieties, although eating them could be fatal. Picking mushrooms in the wild is risky — riskier than gathering edible plants — and a practice not to be undertaken by amateurs. The problem is due to the fact that separating edible from poisonous species is dependent upon the application of only a few easily recognizable traits. People who collect mushrooms for consumption are known as mushroom hunters, and the act of collecting them as such is called mushroom hunting.