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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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How to Spore Print a Wild Mushroom

How to spore print a mushroom

Mushroom spore prints come in a variety of colors.

Knowing how to spore print a mushroom to help you identify it is one of the most most important things to know if you have any intention of picking mushrooms outside, cooking and eating them. It’s also one of the easiest science projects I’ve ever done, and even the word “project” is a bit of a stretch, since it’s so easy.

Why Spore Print a Mushroom? 

I’m not a mycologist, but I’ve learned a few things, and I’ve eaten a lot of mushrooms. Basically, all mushrooms give off spores, and those spores can have different colors, and each of those different colors can be an important piece of the puzzle for identifying your mushroom(s) in question.

How to spore print a mushroom

Chlorophyllum rhacodes, or the shaggy parasol.

A good example is two fall mushrooms: honey mushrooms and blewits. These mushrooms that grow in the fall when another family of mushrooms that isn’t generally recommended for picking, especially for beginners, also grows: Cortinarius. If you’re not familiar, some Cortinarius could look like the other edible species, and you wouldn’t want to bring those home.

The good news, is that all three of these will have different spore prints that you can use, along with a field guide, to tell them apart. Blewits will have a pale-pink spore print, honey mushrooms white, and Cortinarius, rusty brown.

How to spore print a mushroom

Spore printing a Ramaria.

That being said, a spore print isn’t the only tool you should use for mushroom identification. I recommend using a spore print, along with field guides, and online research when looking for a positive ID, as some of the more cutting edge changes are posted online before they get published.

Even then, mushroom species are often being updated and shuffled around with genetic sequencing, and it can make things a little confusing.

How to spore print a mushroom

An obviously pink spore print, a great 1st step to narrowing down what these are.

It’s possible, and probable that you’ll find mushrooms you want to identify, spore print them, research them to death, and still not know exactly what species they are. This can be frustrating, but In my mind, it’s part of the research process. In some instances, this can be ok, in others, you may want to pass on eating them.

If you want to serve your wild mushrooms to others it’s critically important that you’re sure of the safety of your mushrooms and have experience eating and serving them. It is nothing to collect a mushroom for a couple years and growing seasons, only to discard them after collecting and inspecting if you aren’t sure of your identification. 

How to Make a Spore Print 

Here’s what I do: take a mushroom, maybe an ugly or damaged one, cut off the stem at the cap, and put it down on a sheet of black paper. Cover the mushroom cap with a bowl or cup, then leave it out for a few hours or overnight. When you take the cup off and remove the mushroom, there should be a colored print of spores left on the paper.

This is your spore print. Sometimes, it might be helpful to use both black and white paper, putting the mushroom half over each color, if the spore print is hard to see, but most of the time I can get the jist using black. You can also do spore prints on just about any other firm surface, too. Below I use a black plate.

How to spore print a mushroom

A white spore print on a tricholoma. Sometimes I’ll use a black plate since they’re easy to wash, instead of paper.

Natural Spore Prints 

You often don’t need to bring mushrooms home to spore print them. It can be a good idea to bring them home to double check though, especially to rule out look-a-like species, but sometimes, as with mushrooms that have an obviously white spore print, you can look around the ground for mature mushrooms that have already released their spores.

Sometimes it is easy and obvious. Other times, say if it rained recently, it may be a lot more difficult and you should probably bring some home for spore printing.

Lobster mushroom with a natural spore print

Look closely at the lobster mushroom, can you see the white, powdery coating? That is a natural spore print.

How to use it 

When you’re finished and have a spore print, the next thing to do is to consult a proper field guide. When you find the species of wild mushroom you think you have, the color should be the same as the spore print on your plate or piece of paper. Sometimes this may be tricky, as mushroom spores come in many different colors. 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gary Clarke

    May 7, 2020 at 11:45 pm

    Could you please tell me which species is shown in the first photo above? I am in Victoria, Australia and found some yesterday that look identical and I haven’t been able to identify it,
    Cheers,
    Gary

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      May 8, 2020 at 2:17 pm

      Clitocybe. I never narrowed it to species.

      Reply
  2. John Charles Farrell

    May 28, 2022 at 9:17 pm

    Your discussion on spore prints ended abruptly without telling what to do with the print, what the colors indicate and what hazards, if any, are attached to the colors, etc. Can you tell me if I missed something about spore prints which are important?

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      May 28, 2022 at 10:36 pm

      I discuss the why when I compare and contrast cortinarius and blewits. The hazards and what the colors mean are a completely separate post, which is why I say the next step is to consult a field guide.

      Reply

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
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Alan Bergo
Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of t Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of the plant, besides the pods in my opinion. They need to be cooked to be edible. 

I only pick from common milkweed in areas where there’s very large colonies. 

I leave some buds to flower on each plant, I also avoid any tops that have insects or monarch caterpillars. Plenty of food to go around. 

#milkweedisafoodplant #foraging #milkweedbuds #asclepiassyriaca
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
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