Fungi are not plants, but their own kingdom. Mushrooms are the reproductive bodies of fungal masses. In 2021, thanks to fortuitous rains, mushrooms sprang up in the Sandias like, well, mushrooms. What was most amazing was not their quantity but their variety. I was forced to get serious about my mushroom photos.

In 2025 I split my fungus page in two. This page covers the order Agaricales (formerly used to encompass all gilled mushrooms).  The second page covers all other orders of fungi that I've encountered. Lichens, which are symbiotic colonies of fungi and algae, are on a separate page. My few photos of slime mold are also on a separate page, since slime molds are not fungi (even when they look like they should be).

I am not a mushroom expert. Instead, my IDs are best guesses, based on visual inspections and photos. If you rely on those guesses when considering whether to eat a mushroom, you're angling for a trip to an emergency room (or worse). Eating a mushroom in the wild may not make you sick, but not eating it is guaranteed to not make you sick.

I check my photos against the New Mexico observations on Mushroom Observer, and have submitted many of them to that web site for others to identify. I have also had help from Michael Kuo, both directly and by looking at his web site. 

Even so, these photos represent one person's voyage of discovery, wrong turns and all. If you see something I've misidentified, please let me know via my "Contact" page, which is tabbed at the top. 

If you're visiting this web page because you'd like to get serious about identifying wild mushrooms, consider joining the New Mexico Mycological Society.

Images are organized alphabetically by taxonomic unit, up to order. Hover over a photo series to control the images.

Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)

Agaricaceae: Agaricus

This mushroom in a city park looked like one I might buy in a store. Not surprising, since "button mushrooms" are Agaricus bisporus, one of the roughly 400 species in the genus. Many of those species are edible but but some are poisonous. Don't find out the hard way that your ID was only accurate to the genus level.

Agaricaceae: Desert Stalked Puffball (Battarrea phalloides)

This mushroom pushes its way up with enough force to break up the soil immediately around it. At first it has a "cap" but that falls away, making it easier for the countless spores to disperse.

Agaricaceae: Smooth Parasol (Leucoagaricus leucothites)

Note the smooth white caps, the white gills, and the hollow stems with rings.

Agaricaceae: Puffball (Lycoperdon)

As Michael Kuo explains, "puffball" is a popular term that cross-cuts mushroom taxonomy. To see why certain mushrooms are called puffballs, check out this YouTube video (which may or may not be of Lycoperdon).

Amanitaceae: Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria)

Amanitaceae: Western Panther? (Amanita cf. pantherinoides)

I think (but am not sure) that  Amanita pantherina is a synonym.

Amanitaceae: Grisette? (Amanita vaginata?)

This mushroom lacks a ring on the stem, which fits with the species description. 

Hygrophoraceae: Waxy Caps (Hygrocybe)

These were not growing directly from the fallen logs where I saw them, but from cracks in the logs where decayed material may have accumulated. 

Mycenaceae: Xeromphalina

I found a large cluster of tiny gilled mushrooms growing out of very rotten stump (either fir or spruce). To get a better sense of the scale, look at the examples in the palm of my hand.

Nidulariaceae: Bird's Nest Fungi

The fungi of this family feature small mushrooms that are rounded at first, then open into what looks like a bird's nest with multiple eggs. In both photos, the tip of an index finger provides a sense of scale.

Physalacriaceae: Velvet Shank? (cf. Flammulina velutipes)

Pleurotaceae: Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)

"The" oyster mushroom. According to Michael Kuo, "Easily recognized by the way it grows on wood in shelf-like clusters; its relatively large size; its whitish gills that run down a stubby, nearly-absent stem; and its whitish to lilac spore print. It appears between October and early April across North America, and features a brown cap."

Pleurotaceae: Aspen Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus populinus)

Pleurotaceae: Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus pulmonarius)

Not to be confused with "the" oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus.

Psathyrellaceae: Inky Cap (Coprinellus?)

In recent years, the classification of the inky cap mushrooms (Psathyrellaceae) has become complicated. If you read Michael Kuo's essay on the inky caps, you'll understand why I'm noncommittal about IDs for that group.

Psathyrellaceae: Shaggy Mane? (cf. Coprinus comatus)

Psathyrellaceae: Inky Cap (Coprinus?)

Psathyrellaceae: Japanese Parasol or Pleated Inky Cap (Parasola plicatilis)

This was a solitary mushroom in the middle of the lawn at a city park.

Schizophyllaceae: Split-Gill Mushroom (Schizophyllum commune)

So-called split-gill mushrooms look like miniature wood ears, but with gill-like folds in their undersides. They attach directly to trees (i.e., without stems). My photos show dried-out examples of Schizophyllum commune, which occurs around the world. This species has more than 28,000 sexes, assuming you define the word "sex" loosely. If the notion intrigues you, check out this web page.

Squamanitaceae: Floccularia

Strophariaceae: Gymnopilus

Strophariaceae: Pholiota