Mushrooms in New England

Fungi discovered and photographed by Michie Yasuda in Massachusetts and other New England states.

Mushrooms do not draw attention from many, but they play an essential role in the ecosystem as decomposers or as pathogens for some trees. Explore the albums below to see more than 1400 mushroom photos: approximately 120 species as of January 2006. This is an ongoing project and more photos will be added to these albums in the future.
Appearance of one mushroom species varies according to its stages of freshness, habitats, and weather conditions, etc. In these albums, many photos are presented for each species to show the variation in appearance.
Collecting and eating wild mushrooms is not popular in New England, and as a result, wild mushrooms sometimes bring on unreasonable fear. However, in many parts of the world wild mushrooms are collected and eaten with enthusiasm, and Japan is one of them. Japanese common names and their literal English translations are included in photo captions. Interest in edibility can be a good motive to learn about wildlife and mushrooms are not an exception. Therefore, information on edibility is included for each species. However, please do not eat wild mushrooms based only on the pictures and information in this album. Consult experts and seek more information, and use the photos in this album as one resource. Neither the album author nor UMass Boston are responsible for any undesirable outcomes that may occur for those who fail to read or heed this warning. People who choose to eat mushrooms do so at their own risk.

Some of the mushrooms presented here have high commercial values. To protect mushroom habitats, precise locations are not revealed.

Although mushrooms in these albums were identified by consulting more than 10 books (.pdf) when necessary, there may still be mistakes. Please feel free to leave comments under the photos - your input is welcome. Comments for commercial purposes will be deleted and should not be considered an endorsement by either the album author or UMass Boston.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License .