That is why I have tried to produce as current a list as possible. If you have purchased any new mushroom books in the last few years you will notice these updated name changes. Many of the name changes reflect this new information. With DNA it was discovered that just because a mushroom looked like another mushroom did not mean that it was related. What has happened in the last few years is that DNA has come into the picture. They were also dependent on mostly macroscopic characteristics. So many of the North American mushroom names were copied from the European species. Index Fungorum is an international project to index all formal names in the fungus kingdom. Some do not have any and some have a lot of previous names.

If you want to look them up refer to Index Fungorum’s search page ( Once you type in the mushroom’s name you can click on it to find the synonyms. In some cases it was impossible to list all of the synonyms. The ‘other names’ can be helpful when looking up mushrooms in older mushroom books. Each entry includes the family name, group name, and if available, the common name(s) and other name(s) that the mushroom was previously known by or synonyms. This document is a compendium of Pacific Northwest and Northern California mushrooms arranged alphabetically by scientific genus/species name. Important Features to Observe in the Field.

*NEW* Easy Key to Common Gilled Mushrooms.

Hard pacific northwest