You’ll be excited to hear that the Upper Midwest’s mushroom season lasts four whole days. BUT, if we cross our fingers and submit ourselves to the mushroom gods we might get an entire week!
On this page you will find five categories of mushrooms:
1. Common Edible Mushrooms
2. Common Inedible Mushrooms
3. Poisonous Mushrooms
4. Common Lichens
5. A Full Mushroom Guide
WARNING
I AM NOT A MYCOLOGIST! Mushrooms in this guide may be incorrectly identified. Eating wild mushrooms could lead to a painful death.
I recommend Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest by Teresa Marrone & Mushrooms of the Midwest by Michael Kuo for final identification.
Edible Mushrooms of the Midwest
In 2020 I ate my first wild mushroom after two friends told me they were “pretty sure” we found an oyster mushroom growing from a dead tree. Fortunately I’m still alive. Rule #1 is never eat a mushroom unless you are 100% positive of the ID. Rule #2 is never eat mushrooms with white gills if you are new to mushroom hunting. Rule #3 is always use a guide book written by a respectable mycologist (in other words, NOT ME!)
Dryads Saddle
Cerioporus squamosus
Possibly the biggest mushrooms that exist in SD. These are super tasty when young.
Chicken of the Woods
Laetiporus sulphureus
It absolutely tastes like chicken and the texture is unreal!
Wood Ear Mushroom
Auricularia auricula
Basically impossible to mis-identify, this is one weird mushroom that legit looks like an ear.
Morel
Morchella esculentoides
The taste is NOT hype. Morels are the yummiest mushroom I have eaten.
Mica Cap
Coprinellus micaceus
Very light taste but makes a great toasted mushroom sandwhich.
Stinkhorn Mushroom
Phallus impudicus
Swallow the eggs whole after frying them. I do not recommend chewing. Seriously, don’t do it.
Shaggy Mane
Coprinus comatus
Very tasty! The trick is finding them and cooking them before they deliquesce!
Fairy Ring Mushroom
Marasmius oreadus
Found on lawns in late summer and fall. I only eat the cap. Yummy!
Ash Bolete
Boletinellus merulioides
This is an odd looking bolete due to the off-center stem and the veiny pores but I found it to be incredibly delicious!
Spring Agaricus
Agaricus bitorquis
Short stubby stem, thin ring, smooth rounded whitish cap, brown spores, grows in hardpacked soil with often just the cap poking though
Common Inedible Mushrooms of the Midwest
Agrocybe pediades
Found frequently on lawns and parks.
Arrhenia epichysium
Parasitic on moss or mossy dead wood. Look-alikes: Myxomphalia maur and Gamundia striatula.
Coral fungi (Rameria, Artomyces, Gomphaceae…)
Many different kinds, some of which are apparently edible but I have not tested them out personally.
Ganoderma applanatum
I’ve found an artist conk in pretty much every forest that I have ever walked through.
Irpex lacteus
Found everywhere covering sticks on the ground to branches in the trees.
Mycena haemotopus
Very hard to mis-identify due to reddish ooze that leaks from the cut stem.
Schizophyllum commune
Tiny little mushroom found on dead twigs all year long! Each gill is split down the center which is where the name “Schizo” came from.
Trametes versicolor
Always found growing on dead stumps and logs. Can be easily mixed up with T. hersuta which has a velvety surface instead of smooth like T. versicolor.
Poisonous Mushrooms of the Midwest
Agaricus xanthodermus
Easily mixed up with edible Agaricus species. Causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Smells like chemicals. Bruises bright yellow when cut. Saprobe on lawns.
Conocybe apalla
Deadly poisonous. This species has been shown to contain amatoxins which will destroy your liver. Spore print is cinnamon brown. I find this mushroom all summer long growing on well fertilized lawns.
Galerina marginata
Deadly poisonous. This mushroom contains amatoxins which will destroy your liver if too much is consumed. I frequently find this mushroom and you should commit it to memory. Spore print is rust colored. This mushroom grows on dead wood.
Gymnopilus luteus
Contains the mycotoxin psilocybin. Frequently encountered growing on large decayed logs in mature forests.
Panaeolus fimicola
One of the most common lawn mushrooms that I find in Sioux Falls. Contains the mycotoxin psilocybin and looks nearly identical to P. foenisecii.
Pluteus americanus
Looks nearly identical to the edible Pluteus petasatus except it contains the mycotoxin psilocybin. Check out the identification video so you don’t get them mixed up:
There are many more poisonous mushrooms but these are the most common ones that I find.
Common Lichens
(kingdom: Fungi, phylum: Ascomycota, class: Lecanoromycetes)
From Lichens of North America: “[Central Grassland lichen] is a rather small group, partly because the climate can be rigorous, with cold, dry, windy winters, wet springs, and hot, rather dry, late summers, but also because of the scarceness of ideal lichen habitats in the prairies.” (Brodo, p.70) The author then gives a few examples of common bark-dwelling lichens: Hyperphyscia syncolla, Phaeophyscia cernohorskyi, Punctelia bolliana, and Rinodina populicola. Rock tripes in the genera Umbilicaria and Lasallia have a history of being ingested in times of famine. (Brodo, p.79)
Physcia stellaris
This foliose lichen has a very wide range among North America and quite common on trees in Sioux Falls. Chemical analysis was not completed so species could be incorrect.
Teloschistes exilis
I’m very new to lichen identification. Please let me know if there are any needed corrections!
Full Mushroom Guide
I AM NOT A MYCOLOGIST! Mushrooms in this guide may be incorrectly identified.
If you really want to nerd-out I can be found on both MushroomObserver.org and iNaturalist.org under the username “TREEfool”. All photos on this website were captured in South Dakota or Minnesota by me, Logan Spader (unless noted otherwise).
Scientific Classification
For personal study I am building an ever-changing classification of the mushrooms that I have found locally. But I think this quote belongs here:
“I’ve been taking in this method. I don’t pressure myself to learn the names of mushrooms I don’t have the intention of furthering our relationship. Instead, I stick to the mushrooms I want to know and learn from. Each season I add to my repertoire. The idea of learning the names of every mushroom I see is too intimidating for me.” ~GratefulForagingChef I.G.
Domain -> Kingdom -> Division -> Class -> Order -> Family -> Genus -> Species
-kingdom: Fungi
–division: Ascomycota–
—class: Lecanoromycetes
—-order: Caliciales—-
—–family: Physciaceae
——genus: Physcia
——-species: stellaris
—class: Pezizomycetes
—-order: Pezizales—-
—–family: Morchellaceae
——genus: Morchella
——-species: esculentoides
–division: Basidiomycota–
—class: Agaricomycetes
—-order: Agaricales—-
—–family: Agaricaceae
——genus: Agaricus
——-species: bitorquis
——-species: bisporus
——-species: xanthodermus
——genus: Coprinus
——-species: comatus
—–family: Bolbitiaceae
——genus: Panaeolus
——-species: cinctulus
——-species: fimicola
——genus: Conocybe
——-species: apala
—–family: Hygrophoraceae
——genus: Arrhenia
——-species: epichysium
—–family: Hymenogastraceae
——genus: Gymnopilus
——-species: luteus
——-species: luteofolius
——genus: Galerina
——-species: marginata
—–family: Marasmiaceae
——genus: Marasmius
——-species: oreades
—–family: Mycenaceae
——genus: Mycena
——-species: haematopus
—–family: Pluteaceae
——genus: Pluteus
——-species: americanus
—–family: Psathyrellaceae
——genus: Coprinellus
——-species: micaceus
—–family: Schizophyllaceae
——genus: Schizophyllum
——-species: commune
—–family: Strophariaceae
——genus: Agrocybe
——-species: pediades
—-order: Auriculariales—-
—–family: Auriculariaceae
——genus: Auricularia
——-species: auricula
—-order: Boletales—-
—–family: Boletinellaceae
——genus: Boletinellus
——-species: merulioides
—-order: Phallales—-
—–family: Phallaceae
——genus: Phallus
——-species: impudicus
—-order: Polyporales—-
—–family: Fomitopsidaceae
——genus: Laetiporus
——-species: sulphureus
—–family: Ganodermataceae
——genus: Ganoderma
——-species: applanatum
—–family: Polyporaceae
——genus: Cerioporus (Polyporus)
——-species: squamosus
——genus: Trametes
——-species: versicolor
—–family: Steccherinaceae
——genus: Irpex
——-species: lacteus
TREEfool 