A field guide for curious walkers

Mushrooms to Recognise in Dutch Forests

A selection of mushrooms we encountered during our mushroom foraging tours in The Netherlands. Use this guide as an introduction to which mushrooms you might encounter in the wid.

Begin by looking carefully

Mushroom identification is about more than colour. Notice the cap, stem, underside, surrounding trees, season and any changes that occur after handling.

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Scarletina bolete

Neoboletus luridiformis

Red-pored bolete that bruises blue

Edible when cooked thoroughly

A sturdy woodland bolete known for its dark brown cap, red-dotted stem and dramatic blue bruising.

How to recognise it: Look for a velvety brown cap, orange-red pores rather than gills, and a yellowish stem covered in fine red dots. The pores and yellow flesh rapidly stain deep blue when bruised or cut.
Where it grows: Usually found on acidic soil beneath beech, oak, pine or spruce, in both deciduous and coniferous woodland.
Season: Most often seen from summer through autumn.
Important note: Several red-pored boletes look similar, including toxic species. Never identify or eat a wild mushroom from a photograph or a single feature alone.

Fly agaric

manita muscaria

Usually regarded as poisonous

Poisonous

One of Europe's most recognisable mushrooms, known for its bright red cap and pale wart-like patches.

How to recognise it: A red to orange-red cap with white or cream remnants, white gills and a pale stem that commonly has a ring. The base may be swollen.
Where it grows: Associated with trees including birch, pine, spruce and oak, often in woodland or on wooded verges.
Season: Typically appears from late summer into autumn.
Important note: Fly agaric is poisonous and can cause serious neurological and gastrointestinal symptoms. Never consume it.

Chicken of the woods

Laetiporus sulphureus

Distinctive bracket fungus

Edible when cooked thoroughly

A vivid yellow-orange fungus that grows in layered shelves directly from living or dead wood.

How to recognise it: Young growth is often soft and brightly coloured, with overlapping fan-shaped brackets and a pale pore surface underneath.
Where it grows: Grows on trunks, stumps and fallen wood, particularly oak, willow and other broadleaved trees.
Season: Most commonly observed from late spring through autumn.
Important note: Age, host tree and individual sensitivity matter. Even correctly identified specimens can cause adverse reactions, and old specimens become tough and unsuitable.

Panther cap

Amanita pantherina

Highly toxic woodland species

Very poisonous

A striking but highly poisonous amanita with a brown cap scattered with bright white veil fragments and a slender white stem.

How to recognise it: Look for a shiny ochre- to grey-brown cap with evenly scattered white warts and a finely lined margin. It has crowded white gills, a hanging white ring and a bulbous stem base with collar-like remains of the volva. Its white flesh does not turn pink or red when damaged.
Where it grows: Usually found on soil in broadleaved or mixed woodland, particularly beneath beech and oak. It may also occur with conifers.
Season: Most often seen from August through November.
Important note: Panther cap is very poisonous and can cause serious nervous-system effects, including confusion, agitation, hallucinations and seizures. Never consume it. Confusion with the blusher, Amanita rubescens, is particularly dangerous.

Turkey tail

Trametes versicolor

Common bracket fungus

Not edible

A thin, fan-shaped bracket fungus with richly coloured concentric bands, often growing in beautiful overlapping tiers.

How to recognise it: Look for thin, leathery brackets with a velvety upper surface divided into bands of brown, grey, cream, rust or blue. The white-to-cream underside has many tiny round pores — it is not smooth and does not have gills.
Where it grows: Found on dead deciduous wood, especially fallen logs and stumps of beech and other hardwood trees. It occasionally grows on conifers.
Season: Can be seen throughout the year.
Important note: Several bracket fungi look similar. True turkey tail has a pale underside covered with tiny pores; false turkey tail and similar Stereum species have a smooth underside. Its tough, leathery texture makes it unsuitable as a conventional edible mushroom.

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