Poisonous mushrooms

• 1). Carefully examine the shape of the mushroom's cap. The amanitas and green-spored lepiota have parasol shaped caps. The false morel has lobes, folds and wrinkles like the edible morel, but lacks pits and ridges and its bottom edge hangs loose rather than attaching to the stem. The term little brown mushroom is a catchall that includes edible mushrooms, poisonous mushrooms and hallucinogenic mushrooms. For safety's sake, avoid all of them.
  
  
• 2). Examine the stem. Amanitas have a sack-like cup at the base and a ring towards the top. Green-spored lepiotas have a large ring towards the top of the stem.
  
  
• 3). Examine the color. Amanitas are red, yellow, white or brown. Green-spored lepiotas are scaly and tan or cream colored. Jack-o-Lanterns are pumpkin orange and glow in the dark.
  
  
• 4). Examine the spore print. Individual spores cannot be seen. However, piles of spores can be collected and examined. Different species have different colors of spores. As the name implies, green-spored lepiotas have distinctive green spores.
  
  

Making a spore print

• 1). Remove the cap from a mature mushroom. For a larger mushroom cut a section from the cap.
  
  
• 2). Place the cap gill or pore side down on a piece or paper or glass. If you are using paper, use two samples. Place one on white paper and one on black or other dark paper.
  
  
• 3). Place a cup over your sample to keep the air currents from disturbing it. Wait for the sample to deposit spores on the paper. This can take several hours, so it is best to leave the samples overnight.
  
  
• 4). Carefully remove the cup and lift your sample from the glass or paper. You should see a "print" made up of mushroom spores. If the mushroom hasn't been disturbed, the print's pattern will perfectly resemble the bottom of the cap.
  
  
• 5). Compare the color of the spores to the descriptions and color keys in your field guide. This is not an exact science and sometimes depends on being able to distinguish between "white" and "creamy". Other times it will be an obvious choice such as choosing between "white" and "brown" or "white" and "pink".