The vast majority of mushrooms are edible mushrooms comparatively few of the many thousands of know species have any culinary value. Many are either exermely tough or need more chewing than modern man is willing or able to give, or they are so small and fragile that when they are cooked and the water disappeared, very little solid matter remains. The average vegetable, mushrooms contains a high proportion of water, often almost 90%. When Charles Darwin made his famous voyage on the ‘Beagle’, he discovered that apart from meat and fishes the natives of Tierra del Fuego, who wore practically no clothes and seemed amazingly insensitive to cold, ate only two kinds of vegetable foods, berries form the strawberry trees and certain mushrooms growing on the southern beech trees, which was later named after him: Cyttaria Darwinii. Primitive tribes in other parts of the world also rely to a great extent on mushrooms, and during wars and famines mushrooms eating has saved the lives of a great many people in Europe who would otherwise have starved to death.

There are thousand of thousand various of edible mushrooms are found in the wild. But, some of different types of edible mushrooms are:

Edible Mushrooms: Edible boletus (Boletus edulis)

On the continent of Europe this Edible Mushrooms is known as Cepe, or Steinpiltz, and the term ‘Stone fungus’ is also used throughout Scandinavia. Next to the field mushroom this is the most nourishing of the entire edible mushrooms and was already much appreciated by the Romans. It is the main ingredient of several brands of packeted mushroom soups. When young it closely resembles a nicely baked brown bun on a stalk. Later, the cap thickens and extends and the layer of dull greeny-yellow tubes on the under durface, which should be removed before it is eaten, becomes more spongy. It appears in mixed woodlands during the autumn.

Edible Mushrooms: Morel (morchella esculenta)

The morel can be found in meadows and in woodland clearings and parks during late spring. The mushrooms is quite hollow and rather brittle, the creamy white stem especially so. The cap is yellowish brown and slightly pointed, and the surface is divided up into alternate ridges and irregular hollows in which the spores are formed. The cap is joined to the stem. Another closely related species, ‘morchella vulgaris’, is very similar but has a more conical cap. Both are delicious and best served in a creamy sauce.

Edible Mushrooms: Brich boletus (boletus testaceoscaber)

Almost as good as Boletus edulis, this can be recognized by its much brighter, orange-brown cap and the rather more slender stalk, which is covered in small black scales. It grows in brich and confer woods, first appearing in mid-summer and going on until early autumn. The pore surface on the underside is a dirty grayish-brown color. When cut or broken, the flesh gradually turns lilac or slate-blue, but this may not be apparent for ten minutes or so. Good to eat either fried with bacon, tomatoes and onion or made into soup, added to rice dishes or omelet’s.

Edible Mushrooms: Boletus badius

This is more of a ‘sticky bun’ than Boletus edulis, because the covering of the cap is shiny chestnut-brown and rather viscid in young specimens. The tubes are creamy at first, later turn yellow and finally have greenish tinge. The stalk is fairly slender and light streaky brown. When bruised, the tubes turn green and the flesh, which is yellow, becomes light blue on exposure to air. This is a common fungus is conifer woods during late summer, and although inferior to Boletus edulis in flavor, it is still in the top class for all culinary purposes.

Edible Mushrooms: Russula cyamoxantha

It grow more often under beeches than in oak woods, this edible mushrooms varies from blue-green to violet-purple. The gills, which feel curiously oily and elastic to the touch, are white and so is the stem, although it may occasionally have a faint purplish tinge. The flesh is firm and white, but under the skin of the cap it is slightly reddish.

Edible Mushrooms: Shaggy cap or Lawyers Wig (coprinus comatus)

Quite unmistakable, with its narrow cylindrical heads pushing up, covered in soft almost overlapping shaggy scales, pure white at first but soon tinted with ochre, this quick-maturing mushrooms is often found in clusters growing in fields and gardens, by compost or rubbish heaps or on the roadside where the soil has been disturbed. The gills of this mushroom start off by being white, then turn pink, purple, and black and finally dissolve in a black inky fluid which has also given the mushroom the name if Ink Cap. When young, while the gills are still white or pink, it is edible and has a very delicate taste.

Edible Mushrooms: The Shaggy Mushroom (Agaricus Augustus)

The cap of this very sturdy mushrooms is not unlike that of the parasol mushroom, but it lacks the prominent umbo in the centre and the scales are umbo in the centre and the scales are smaller and of a paler rusty brown. In young unexpanded specimens there are a few scales on the stem below the ring, but these drop off later, leaving the stem white and clean, with a floppy ring hanging down below the cap. The gills are white at first and later become brownish. This is a woodland fungus, growing during late summer both under conifers and deciduous trees. It smells distinctly of anise and is very tasty when cooked.

Edible Mushrooms: Edible Stump Fungus (pholiota mutabilis)

Much mushrooms spring from old tree stumps but few of them are edible. This is an exception and invariably grows in a crowded mass, with the wavy, more or less flattened caps reaching six centimeters across. The thin stalks are surrounded by a membranous ring and become barker towards the base. When moist, the caps are a rich date-brown in color, but as they dry they become lighter in the centre. The mushroom gills on the underside are cinnamon colored. Although it is rather lacking in substance, it makes a worthwhile addition to savoury stews, adding, as it does, both flavor and color.

Edible Mushroom: Honey Fungus (Armillaria mellea)

The honey mushrooms normally grows in a mass, either on a rotting old stump or at the base of a living tree. When young the caps are golden brown, covered in projecting scales, but later these wear off and the color becomes paler. The mushroom gills are creamy-colored at first, but later turn light brown and spotted. The stem has a white ring spitted with yellow, near the top, and below this it is darkly honey-colored and hairy, somewhat swollen towards the base. The flesh is white with a peculiar smell and tastes slightly bitter when raw. This will disappear on boiling and the honey fungus is safe to eat, but not particularly well flavored.

Edible Mushrooms: Fairy Ring Champignon (Marasmius oreades)

This is only one of the many mushrooms which grow in circles, killing and discoloring the grass. We no longer believe that these rings are made by dancing fairies, witches or lightning, and although the champignon can ruin a lawn, it is at least edible and tasty. If a good crop appears in summer or autumn, the caps can be threaded on string and hung from the kitchen ceiling to dry for future use. A handful added to stews and casseroles, or chopped up in a vegetable soup, will give a pleasant mushroom flavor. The caps are pale brown, but almost buff when dry, with a raised bump or ‘umbo’ in the cuntre. The gills are well spaced and alternately long and short, the thin stalks remarkably tough and hairy at the base.

Edible Mushrooms: Sparassis crispa

Strangely enough this mushroom has no popular name. It might well be called the bath sponge mushrooms, because this is what it closely resembles from a distance when you see it nestling at the base of a pine tree, where it is most usually found in early autumn. The creamy flesh, divided into countless flattened lobes, is very brittle, and full-grown specimens may grow to 30 centimeters across. The taste is mild and the mushrooms make a good soup, or flavoring for an omelets or soufflé.

Edible Mushrooms: Giant puff Ball (Lycoperdon giganteum)

Potentially the largest of all mushrooms, this may occasionally grow as big as a sheep, but is usually no more than football size. This mushroom appears in pasture land and on road sides in late summer. The white skin is at first downy and then becomes smooth, like kid leather. Gathered young, when the flesh is still white and firm, it can be cut in slices, dipped in egg and breadcrumbs, and fried to provide nourishing but not very exciting dish. A mature puff ball, filled with billions of brown spores, is useless except as tinder.

Edible Mushrooms: Poor Man’s Beef Steak (Fistulina Hepatica)

This extraordinary edible mushroom, looking rather like a large red tongue, grows on living trees, usually sweet chestnut or oak. This mushroom is harmless and edible but unfortunately provides only a very poor imitation of an inferior piece of stewing steak. The under surface is covered in a layer of short yellow tubes, which are best removed before cooking. When broken, the flesh exudes red juice. Beef steak mushrooms should be boiled and well flavored with onion or garlic, herbs and species to make it palatable.

Edible Mushrooms: Mitrophora Semi-Libera

A relative of the morel, growing in moist woodlands on rich soil, this rather insubstantial fungus has a cap which merely sits on top of the white stalk without being attached to it. Another allied species, Morchella conica, slightly more robust and with a darker brown cone-shaped cap and yellowish stalk, grows both in deciduous woods and in conifer plantations, but neither of these is common. Both mushrooms are edible if treated in the same way as the morel.

Edible Mushrooms: Hygrophorus coccineus

The blood red or bright scarlet cap of these small mushrooms is only 2-5 centimeters. It starts off by being somewhat bell-shaped, and later becomes almost flat, while the color fades to orange and yellow. The gills are yellow with a red flush and the stalk is the same color as the cap at the top, becoming paler towards the base. It grows in grassy places, very often round the edges of woods, from early summer until late in the autumn. Boiled or fried and added to rice dishes it gives color and flavor.

Edible Mushrooms: Wood hedgehog fungus (Hydnum rufescens)

Both this mushrooms and the allied Hydnum Redum are strictly autumnal woodland mushroom, more common in the northern mixed woodlands than in the south. They are easily identified by the fact that they do not have gills or tubes on the under surface, but instead a layer so small teeth or blunt spines. They usually grow in groups or rings and the pale buff Hydnum Repandum, which Hydnum Rufescens is smaller and foxy-brown in color. A third species, sarcodon imbricatum, which is only found in coniferous woods on sandy soil, has a grey brown scaly cap and grey teeth and stem. All three are edible, but are best if boiled first to remove the slightly acrid taste and then dipped in bread crumbs, fired, and served with fried onions.

Edible Mushrooms: Cortinarius albo-violaceus

This interesting autumn mushroom of beech and oak woods can be recognized by the very pale lilac-blue coloring of the cap and top of the club-shaped stalk, while the lower half appears to be wearing a white ‘stocking’. When young, the cap and the stalk are joined by thin cobwebby strands. When full grown and more or less flattened, the cap always has a prominent hump in the middle, giving it the shape of a hat. The gills, which are set rather far apart, are also pale violet at first, but later become cinnamon-brown. The rather thick flesh has a slight tinge of violet. The flavor is mild.

Edible Mushrooms: Jew’s ear (Auricularia auricular)

In Europe this peculiar mushrooms grows almost exclusive on elder, but in North America it is found on many different deciduous trees. The color varies from a rather dull flesh tint to a very dark brown. The flesh is thin and translucent and when moist it feels like soft rubber but becomes quite hard on drying. The shape is like a very irregular shallow saucer with the inner surface shiny and the outer slightly velvety and grayish. Young, light-colored specimens can be eaten, and in China a close relative of this fungus, Auricularia polytricha, is cultivated on cut oak saplings.

Edible Mushrooms: Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)

This late autumn and winter mushrooms which grows on beech trees, causing a damaging rot, is a beautiful blue-grey color when young, but gradually changes to brown as it ages. He whitish yellow gills extend down the short stalk, which is always set on one side of the cap. The individual specimens often grow in layers on top of each other. While still young and blue the Oyster mushroom is edible and god and it can easily be dried above a stove or in a warm room for storing. It should be cooked gently and served in a thick creamy sauce.

Edible Mushrooms: Russula Atropurpurea

The Russulas are an enormous family of fungi, numbering well over a hundred species. They are typical woodlanders, appearing in late summer and are often very brightly colored. They are quickly attacked by slugs, snails and insects of various sorts and it is not easy to find perfect healthy specimens. Many of them have a very bitter, acrid or peppery taste, but this one, recognized by its purplish-red cap which is almost black in the centre is mild tasting and pleasant when mature, although very young specimens may be a little bitter.

Edible Mushrooms: Russula Vesca

In this Russula the color of the cap is very variable, ranging from a dull reddish-brown to a buff pink like that of the specimen in the photograph. When the cap flattens out in maturity, the skin on the top often pulls back from the edge, revealing the flesh along the margin. The gills, as in most Russulas, are white, but become slightly spotted with brown as the Mushrooms ages, and the firm flesh slowly discolors to pale brown when broken. It is most common in oak woods and has a pleasantly nutty flavor, blending well with egg dishes of all kinds.

Edible Mushrooms: Russula Nitida

This is a rather small and slender fungus with a cap that quickly becomes flat and depressed in the centre. The color is at first wine red, but later fades near the margin, leaving the middle still fairly dark. There are distinct radiating grooves along the edge of the cap and the gills are creamy-yellow. The stalk swells a little towards the base and is often shaded with pink. It is most commonly found in birch woods and is good to eat. The best way to decide whether or not a Russula is edible is to taste a small piece of the uncooked flesh. Only those with a mild bland taste should be used.

Edible Mushrooms: Coprinus Attramentarius

This rather unattractive-looking, bell-shaped mushrooms is a close relative of the Lawyer’s Wing but does not ‘auto-digest’ or dissolve in the same way, although the gills do turn black with age. It is mainly woodland Mushrooms, often clustering close to deciduous tree, but it also appears from time to time is gardens or round the edges of fields, any time from mid-summer to late autumn. It is edible, but will cause sickness and frightening purple blotches on the face and arms if served with wine, beer or spirits because it contains ‘antabuse’, sometime administered to alcoholics to try and wean them from drink.

Edible Mushrooms: Boletus Scaber

Boletus Scaber Mushrooms color of its cap varies from grey-brown to dark brown and it is rather sticky to the touch. The tubes are a dirty grey and become blotchy when bruised. The whole edible Mushrooms feels very soft and rather unpleasantly spongy and should only be gathered when it is quite young and the cap still rounded. It is much attacked by insects and the flesh contains a very high proportion of water.

Edible Mushrooms: Saffron Milk Cap (Lactarius Deliciousus)

All the members of the genus Lactarius exude a milky juice when cut and it this case it is rich saffron yellow in color and soon turns orange. The cap is often distinctly banded with greenish rings; the centre may be depressed on a mature specimen, and the edge slightly wavy. The gills are orange and turn green if bruised. It is very different indeed to find a specimen which is not riddled with insect maggots even at an early stage. It grows in coniferous woods, often in groups and should be thoroughly washed before cooking to remove as much as possible of the milk.

Edible Mushrooms: Clitocybe Nebularis

Woodland mushrooms, more often found under conifers than deciduous trees. It appears after late summer and early autumn rains, pushing up its smooth grey rounded caps, which later become almost flat, or even slightly hollow in the centre. The whole mushrooms are very solid and fleshy, with a stout stem thickening further towards the base. The gills are crowded together, white at first, then pale grey with a yellow tinge. The flesh is white and soft and has a rather sweet smell. These edible mushrooms are pleasant to eat but hard on the digestion, so a little is better than too much. It should always be boiled in water for a few minutes before use.

Edible Mushrooms: Woolly Milky Cap (Lactarius Torminosus)

This is one of the most attractive of all the edible mushrooms, with its delicate pink coloring and the soft furry top which curls ender at the edges. In a mature specimen there are clear concentric rings of lighter and darker pink on the cap, which is depressed in the middle. Many people consider it inedible, but in Eastern Europe, Russia and especially in Finland it is the most popular of all fungi. The white milky juice has a strong peppery taste, but this disappears when the mushrooms, is boiled and rinsed, which it always should be before using and Common in coniferous woods in autumn.

Edible Mushrooms: Lactarius Vellereus

These mushrooms are another member of the same family. But, they are pure white instead of pink, with a soft velvety cap which is always curled down at the edges. The stem tends to be short and stout and the gills, which are set wide apart, are white when young and then turn dull yellow. In older specimens the cap is slightly stained with brown, especially in the depression at the centre. The profuse milk is white and peppery but after boiling and rinsing the taste becomes mild and the mushrooms are perfectly safe and pleasant to eat. It is found in woodlands in autumn and is more common in the north.

Edible Mushrooms: Lactarius Mitissimus

This is a rather small and fragile mushrooms always growing under conifers. The top of the cap is more or less orange-red with a small knob in the centre, the gills are pinkish-ochre and the stem is the same color as the cap. The white milk is only slightly bitter. It needs the same treatment as the other two mentioned above, and this applies to nearly all the Lactarius Mushrooms. None of them are poisonous, but in some cases the extreme peppery or bitter taste is not completely removed by boiling

There many edible mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms out there in wild. But the vast majority of mushrooms are non-poisonous comparatively few of the many thousands of known species have any culinary value. Many are either extremely tough and need more chewing then modern man is willing or able to give, or they are cooked and the water has disappeared, very little solid matter remains. Some have an unpleasant taste and although they may not be harmful, one must be starving indeed to eat willingly something that is really unpalatable. May mushrooms which are acrid in a raw state and likely to cause severe indigestion if eaten become quite mild when boiled in water this applies especially to the Lactarius species and also to certain Russulas, and a preliminary boiling of all fungi apart from Chantarelles, mushrooms and parasol fungi, and Boletus edulis, is always advisable, before they are served.