Contact and FAQ  

The common house sparrow, Passer domesticus . . .

. . . is edible. Why is that all people care about when it comes to mushrooms is whether they can eat them or not? They don't ask this about birds!

Email

I love receiving your messages and photos, and I will try to help you identify mushrooms, or answer your mushroom questions (if I can). Because of the high volume of e-mails I receive, however, I can't promise a prompt response; it may take several weeks (or more) before you hear from me—and it is possible I may not have time to reply at all (please don't take it personally if this is the case). You can find my e-mail address below the Frequently Asked Questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Over the years I've noticed that many of the e-mails I receive—though certainly not all of them—are clustered around these topics. While I don't want to discourage you from contacting me (with one exception: the "How Do I Kill These Mushrooms?" topic), it might save you some time to look for your question.

There's a little yellow mushroom growing in my flower pot . . .

It's probably Leucocoprinus birnbaumii, sometimes called the "flower pot parasol." You can see flower pot photos sent in by readers by following the link.

There's a stinky mushroom that looks like a morel growing in my yard / garden . . .

It's probably not a morel, unless it's springtime. In fact, it's probably a "stinkhorn," Phallus impudicus--or a related species. These are funky mushrooms; follow the link for details. By the way: stinkhorns won't hurt you, your pets, your children, or your garden.

Is this mushroom edible / poisonous?

I'm sorry, but I don't advise about edibility or toxicity, and information on edibility and toxicity does not appear at this site. You will need to find another resource for this.

What's this mushroom?

I would love to help you try to identify a mushroom you've found, though I can't guarantee I'll be able to figure it out. A photo will make things easier. But even without an illustration, I can give it my best shot. The more complete your description of the mushroom is, the better the chances I will be able to figure it out.

How do I kill these mushrooms?

Now, honestly. Would you go to Eagles.Com and ask for information on how to shoot eagles? Unless the mushrooms are growing in your living quarters, I will ignore your e-mail—and if they are growing in your living quarters, please see this page.

Is there a mushroom club in my area?

I hope so! See Affiliated Clubs at the North American Mycological Association.

What field guide do you recommend?

If you can only afford one field guide, it should be David Arora's Mushrooms Demystified (1986). There are many other great guides, however. See this page for a list of some of them.

Hi, I'm like 22 years old and I'm designing a phone app for mushroom identification even though I know nothing about mushroom identification, and I was wondering if I could use all the material from your website for my app, and basically just take your life's research and work and writing and photos and use it somewhere else, please.

Lol, I actually get this crap about once a month. The short answer is: Please fuck right off.

This site contains no information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms.

Kuo, Michael (2019). Contact and FAQ. Retrieved from the Mushroomexpert.Com website: www.mushroomexpert.com/contact.html

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