Important characteristics to note

Before doing anything, note the environment. Is it in a forested area, a grassy open area? If so, it is good to note what species are nearby or broadly whether trees are deciduous (e.g. oak, cedar elm, sycamore) or conifers (e.g. pine, fir, juniper). Is there a lot of disturbance such as found near paths or due to a recent burn? 

Next, take photos of the mushroom. Note the following identifying features:

1. Substrate (e.g. wood, soil, rock)

2. Growing pattern

   1. Is it growing solitary or as an aggregate group?

   2. If in a group, are they densely packed together (cespitose) or in a close group (gregarious, troop)

3. Color of pileus (cap), reproductive surface (gills, pores, or teeth), and stipe (stem). Take photos of these features prior to collection as color will fade.

   1. If there is not a stipe, then how is it attached to the substrate?

4. Spore color

   1. Sometimes you can get this by looking at the stipe or, if the mushrooms are growing in a group, looking at the caps of mushrooms growing below others.

   2. See Spore Print section below.

5. Presence of partial or universal veil

   1. see the note below (Collecting mushrooms) regarding the universal veil

6. Attachment of gills to the stipe.

7. Is there any color change? 

   1. If so, what parts of the mushroom and how long does it take to occur?

8. Are there any latex or other liquids that come out when it is damaged?

Collecting mushrooms

Mushrooms should be collected and stored in paper bags to allow air to circulate and prevent spoilage. To collect mushrooms use a knife and be sure to carefully remove the entire base sometimes digging into the soil to remove it. There can be important diagnostic characteristics that you will need such as the presence of a universal veil—commonly found in Amanita— or a long "root"—e.g. Collybia radicata var. furfuracea. This can sometimes be easier with a dull knife like a butter knife. 

Place in a paper bag labeled with an identifier so you can match the notes you took above to the specimen. If you are planning on doing microscopy work or making a spore print, you can store the mushrooms in the fridge for a few days. If not, then dry your mushrooms either in a food dehydrator or in your oven on the lowest setting possible. 

Spore prints

For spore prints cut the stipe off and place the cap gill or pore side down on paper. The choice of paper depends on your downstream goals. If you want to save the spores for DNA analysis or to culture, you can do the spore on foil and then freeze the spores. If you want to know the color of the spores, an important diagnostic feature, you can use regular paper. If you are planning on submitting these to a herbarium or keeping them in your fungal library, then use archival-grade paper for the spore print

 Cover the cap with a glass or other container to reduce the airflow around the cap. If the cap is dry, you can add a few drops of water to the cap to help with spore release. Leave for 12 to 24 hours.

Resources for identifying mushrooms

Online

Mushroomexpert.com - wonderful resource for species keys. Also has information on collecting, identifying, and preserving mushrooms. And a list of common yard mushrooms which is a great place to start.

*Mycoportal.org - collection of observations and herbarium vouchers; can search by species to get a distribution map or location to get a species list; also includes user contributed photos

Mushroomobserver.org - great resource for photos to help with identification

Texasmushrooms.org - photos and species list of Texas mushrooms.

*Mushrooms of Texas - iNaturalist project 

CrustFungi.com - Awesome, comprehensive website on the often difficult to id crust Fungi.

* You can contribute your own observations!

Print

Mushrooms demystified by David Aurora

All that the rain promises and more by David Aurora

Polypores and similar fungi of easter and central North America by Alan E. Bessette, Dianna Smith, and Arleen R. Bessette

Ascomycete Fungi of North America: A mushroom reference guide by Alan E. Bessette, Arleen R. Bessette, and Michael W. Beug

Biodiversity projects

FunDiS - Citizen science project documenting biodiversity

Sets up focal rare Fungi by region (see image below from the website)

Great presentations available online