01 · IN SITU
Before you touch it.
Photograph the fungus exactly where it is growing. Include enough surroundings to show whether it is on soil, wood, moss, leaf litter, a lawn, a living tree, or something else.
MUSHROOM IDENTIFICATION Show us the whole mushroom.A good identification starts before you pick it. Give us the mushroom, the underside, the base, and the place it was growing—and we can usually tell you a great deal more. BEFORE YOU POST Your phone is enough.You do not need a professional camera. You do need more than one photograph. Most modern phones can capture everything needed for a useful mushroom-identification request. The trick is slowing down long enough to photograph the characters another person needs to see. Start with the mushroom where you found it. Then collect a complete specimen and show us several different views. THE PHOTO CHECKLIST Six views make a much better ID request.Different fungi require different characters, but these views cover most of the information an identifier will ask for first.
02 · CAP
Look down.Get an in-focus photograph of the entire cap. Color matters, but so do scales, fibers, slime, cracks, zones, warts, depressions, and the shape of the margin. 
03 · UNDERSIDE
Turn it over.Show whether it has gills, pores, teeth, folds, a smooth surface, or something stranger. For gilled mushrooms, try to show clearly how the gills meet the stem. 
04 · STEM
Show the entire stipe.Photograph the whole stem from top to bottom. Rings, fibers, dots, reticulation, color changes, texture, and changes in width can all be useful. 
05 · BASE
Don't cut off the evidence.Carefully dig around the stem before lifting the mushroom. A bulb, cup, rooting structure, mycelium, or other feature at the base can change the identification completely. 
06 · CONTEXT
Look up from the mushroom.Photograph nearby trees if you cannot identify them. Many fungi form relationships with particular plants, while wood-decaying fungi may prefer particular hosts.
ONE OF THE MOST COMMON MISTAKES Don't cut the mushroom off at ground level.Sometimes the most important structure is the part still underground. The base may be bulbous, tapered, rooting, enclosed in a cup-like volva, covered with veil material, or attached to a distinctive mat of mycelium. Once that portion is left behind, an identifier cannot recover it from a photograph of the cap.
If you don't know what it is:
dig around the base first, then lift the entire
specimen.
TELL US WHAT THE PHOTO CANNOT A few field notes can narrow the possibilities fast.Where?Alabama county is usually enough for a public identification request. Exact coordinates are useful for your own observation records but do not need to be posted publicly. What is it growing from?Soil, mulch, living wood, dead wood, buried wood, dung, another fungus, an insect, or something else? What's nearby?Oak, pine, hemlock, birch, beech, hickory and other trees can provide critical ecological context. Does it smell distinctive?Flour, almond, cucumber, anise, seafood, phenolic chemicals, maple, garlic—and sometimes nothing obvious at all. Does it bruise or stain?Note the original color, the new color, and how quickly the reaction occurs. Some changes happen instantly; others develop over several minutes. Does it bleed?Cutting or scratching the gills of some mushrooms releases a milk-like latex. Note its color and whether it changes after exposure to air. WATCH IT CHANGE Some characters only appear after you damage it.Gently bruise or scratch the cap, stem, and spore-bearing surface, then watch the reaction. A clean lengthwise slice through one specimen can also reveal internal staining and structure. Record both the immediate reaction and what happens several minutes later. 
CHARACTER IN ACTION
Some fungi change color dramatically when bruised.
NOT EVERYTHING HAS A CAP Photograph the organism you actually found.Coral fungi, clubs, cups, crusts, brackets, puffballs, stinkhorns, insect parasites and other fungi do not fit neatly into a cap-and-stem checklist. The same principle still works: show the complete organism, show several surfaces, show how it attaches to its substrate, and document the habitat. If something looks strange, give the identifier more information—not fewer photographs. HARD TO IDENTIFY Four ways to make an easy mushroom impossible.One overhead photoThe underside, stem, and base may contain most of the useful characters. A cut-off stemCutting at ground level can remove exactly the structure needed for identification. A washed mushroomCleaning can remove veil remnants, surface texture, mycelium, substrate, colors, and other useful clues. “What is this?”Add the county, substrate, habitat, and anything unusual you observed. Context matters. READY TO ASK? Put knowledgeable people on the problem.Alabama has an active community of mushroom identifiers, foragers, naturalists, and people who have spent years learning our regional fungi.
BEST FOR A QUICK LOCAL CONVERSATION
Alabama Mushroom Society Facebook Group
Post your photographs and field information and let local identifiers help work through the possibilities. Ask the community → BEST FOR A DURABLE OBSERVATION iNaturalistKeep the location, date, photographs, and community identifications together as a lasting biodiversity record. Open iNaturalist → FUNGI-FOCUSED COMMUNITY Mushroom ObserverA long-running observation platform built specifically around mushrooms and other fungi. Open Mushroom Observer →“WHAT IS IT?” ≠ “SHOULD I EAT IT?” Identification comes first.An identification request and an edibility decision are related, but they are not the same question. If you are learning an edible species, learn the characters that establish the identification, the plausible look-alikes, and the way that species is normally prepared. The goal is not permanent dependence on someone replying “yes” to a photograph. The goal is learning the mushroom well enough to recognize it yourself. Read the foraging & eating guide →SUSPECTED POISONING? Identification is not the first phone call.If someone may have consumed a toxic mushroom, contact Poison Control promptly. Do not wait for a Facebook identification before seeking professional guidance. 1-800-222-1222Preserve remaining mushrooms and take clear photographs when possible. For a medical emergency, call 911. 
THE NEXT STEP Stop asking what every mushroom is. Start recognizing them.Getting an identification is useful. Understanding why the identification works is better. Our identification guide walks through the characters, terminology, keys, and techniques that let you narrow down fungi on your own. FOUND SOMETHING? Photograph first. Pick second. Ask better questions. |
