Mushrooms are not only important for plants to control vital metabolic cycles, but are also a tasty food for various animals in the forest and for humans. However, not all types of mushrooms in Germany are equally well tolerated.
Table of Contents
native mushroom species
In Germany there are over 5,000 different native species of mushrooms in the forests. Only estimates can be made here, since dozens of new species are added every year. In addition to the popular types of edible mushrooms, there are also a variety of toadstools. Therefore, only such mushrooms (fungi) should be collected that are really known. The mushroom season mainly extends from summer to autumn. However, there are already some native types of mushrooms such as morels and May mushrooms in spring. Below is a brief overview of the various native species found in Germany:
Champignons/Egerlinge (Agaricus)
Many of these species are edible and good edible mushrooms. Pink to brownish lamellae are visible on the underside of the cap.
Aniseed mushroom, sheep mushroom (Agaricus arvensis)
In Germany, this native fungus occurs on pastures, meadows, at the edges of forests, in gardens and parks.
- Hat: square, edge of hat with remains of skin
- Hat color: white, yellowish at bruises
- Stem: 1-2 cm thick, white with yellow spots, bulbous base, double ring
- Growth height: 5-15 cm
- Flesh: white, stalk pink, tastes like anise
- Fruiting bodies: May – October
- Special feature: edible
- Likelihood of confusion: White Poison Egerling
Waldegerling (Agaricus silvaticus)
- Occurrence: Coniferous and mixed forests, under spruces
- Cap: 5-10 cm in diameter, spreading, brown scales
- Skin color: ocher to cinnamon color
- Stem: 1-1.5 cm thick, white, base clavate thickened, transitory ring
- Growth height: 7-10 cm
- Flesh: white, smelling of wood, turning red at cuts
- Fruiting bodies: July – October
- Special feature: edible
- Likelihood of confusion: saffron larvae, compost larvae, guinea fowl larvae
boletus
The fruiting body of these mushroom species occurring in Germany is divided into a cap and a stalk. Dense, fine tubes, also known as sponges, are visible on the underside of the cap. They are divided into fat boletus relatives (Boletaceae) and smear boletus relatives (Suillaceae). There are hardly any poisonous and no deadly mushrooms.
Birch fungus, Birch Stir (Leccinum scabrum)
The native birch mushroom belongs to the mushroom species of the boletus. In Germany it can be found in deciduous and mixed forests, heaths, moors and on field margins, mainly under birch trees.
- Cap: diameter 4-12 cm, slightly convex, often sticky
- Hat color: velvety hazel,
- Stem: gray with black scales, base somewhat thickened
- Growth height: 10-20 cm high
- Flesh: firm, white to spongy
- Fruiting bodies: June – October
- Special feature: tasty when young, later soft, slimy
- Likelihood of confusion: brown red cap, birch red cap
Butterpilz, Butterröhrling (Suillus luteus)
In Germany, these fungal species of boletes only grow in pine forests and are often found here on clearings, paths and at the edges of forests.
- Cap: diameter 5-12 cm, hemispherical, cap skin sticky
- Hat color: brownish yellow to chocolate brown
- Stem: 1-2.5 cm thick, whitish, ringed
- Growth height: 5-10 cm high
- Flesh: soft, juicy, tart, yellowish-white
- Fruiting bodies: June – October
- Special feature: tasty, can cause allergies
- Likelihood of confusion: golden boletus, sand boletus, granular boletus
Flockenstieliger Hexenröhrling, Schusterpilz (Boletus luridiformis)
These native species of thick boletes love a sandy and lime-poor soil. They prefer to grow in spruce, beech and oak forests.
- Cap: diameter 4-20 cm, cap skin felty to velvety
- Hat color: medium brown to dark brown
- Stem: 3-5 cm thick, clavate to cylindrical, yellow with red dots
- Growth height: 5-15 cm
- Flesh: firm, golden yellow, blue at cuts
- Fruiting bodies: May – November
- Special feature: edible when cooked, poisonous when raw
- Risk of confusion: Net-stalked witch boletus, Satan’s boletus
Kuhröhrling, Kuhpilz (Suillus bovinus)
- Occurrence: on sandy soils, mostly under pine trees
- Cap: diameter 5-10 cm, hemispherical to convex, wet cap skin greasy
- Hat color: yellow, orange to olive brown
- Stem: 0.5-2 cm thick, cylindrical, acuminate at the base, color like a hat
- Growth height: 4-10 cm
- Flesh: tough, fruity, white to light yellow
- Fruiting bodies: June – November
- Special feature: edible
- Likelihood of confusion: granular boletus, golden boletus
Maronenröhrling (Xerocomus badius)
- Occurrence: mainly coniferous forests
- Cap: diameter 5-12 cm, cap skin finely felted to velvety, often greasy when wet
- Hat Color: Gray to chestnut, sometimes black or reddish brown
- Stem: 2-5 cm thick, cylindrical, fibrous, lemon yellow to reddish brown
- Flesh: white to pale yellow, nutty flavor, interfaces blue
- Fruiting bodies: June – November
- Special feature: edible, good dried mushroom
- Risk of confusion: goat’s lip, sand boletus
Porcini mushroom (Boletus edulis)
This native mushroom is one of the most popular types of mushrooms in Germany. It grows in deciduous and coniferous forests, mostly under spruce trees.
- Cap: diameter 8-25 cm, convex
- Cap skin: light to dark brown, also reddish brown, edge white
- Stem: 3-6 cm thick, club-shaped or cylindrical, white to light brown, light net markings
- Growth height: 5-15 cm
- Flesh: firm, white, brown under the cuticle
- Fruiting bodies: August – November
- Special feature: excellent edible mushroom
- Danger of confusion: gall bolete, satan’s bolete, flake-stemmed witch’s bolete
Goat’s lip, light-colored felt tube (Xerocomus subtomentosus)
- Occurrence: Deciduous and coniferous forests
- Cap: flat, convex, diameter 5-10 cm, cap skin velvety to felty
- Hat color: olive yellow to olive brown, fading
- Stem: 1-2 cm thick, granular near the cap, cylindrical, reddish to brownish
- Growth height: 4-12 cm
- Flesh: white to yellow, bland, faintly blue at cuts
- Fruiting bodies: July – October
- Specialties: edible
- Likelihood of confusion: red-footed boletus
Wulstlinge (Amanita)
These are medium-sized, stalked agarics. At the bottom of the hat, white lamellae stand free and crowded together. Everything is available, from edible to inedible to deadly poisonous mushrooms.
Amanita phalloides, Amanita phalloides
The death cap mushroom is one of the most poisonous types of mushrooms in Germany. It grows in deciduous and mixed forests, in parks, preferably under oaks, red beeches and chestnuts, less often under conifers.
- Cap: diameter 5-15 cm, bell-shaped to spread flat
- Hat color: from olive green to yellow, gray to gray-green
- Stem: 1-2 cm thick, bulbous base thickened, white ring present
- Growth height: 6-15 cm
- Flesh: white, smelling of ammonia
- Fruiting bodies: July – November
- Special features: deadly poisonous
- Risk of confusion: lady russula, greenfinch
Pantherpilz (Amanita pantherina)
- Occurrence: Deciduous and coniferous forests
- Cap: diameter 5-15 cm, spread flat
- Hat color: from ocher to grey- and yellow-brown to olive-brown, white to gray remnants of velum present
- Stem: 0.5-1.5 cm thick, bulbous base, rimmed tuber, white ring present
- Growth height: 5-15 cm
- Flesh: white, radish-like odor
- Fruiting bodies: July – October
- Special features: very toxic
- Danger of confusion: pearl mushroom, squat amanita
Red Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)
- Occurrence: deciduous and coniferous forests, under birches and spruces
- Cap: diameter 5-20 cm, spread flat
- Hat color: light to dark red, also orange-yellow, white or yellowish vellum remains
- Stem: 1-3 cm thick, bulbous base thickened, two tubercles, white or yellow ring
- Growth height: 10-25 cm
- Flesh: white, also yellow to orange, mild
- Fruiting bodies: August – November
- Specialties: Poisonous, but not deadly
- Risk of confusion: Kaiserling, rare in Germany
Leaplings
These are good edible mushrooms. The bottom layer of the hat is provided with wavy or bifurcated ridges. These can sometimes be barely visible, so that the underside of the hat is almost smooth. These include mushroom species of the genus Chanterelle (Cantharellus) and Craterella (Craterellus).
Herbsttrompete, Totentrompete (Craterellus cornucopioides)
- Occurrence: mainly in deciduous forests, under beeches, oaks and hazelnut bushes
- Shape: diameter 4-10 cm, like a funnel, no transition between cap and stem, wavy edge
- Colour: velvety grey-brown on the inside, ash-grey on the outside, black below, with white rims
- Growth height: 5-12 cm high
- Flesh: elastic, later tough, very spicy
- Fruiting bodies: August – November
- Specialties: edible, good dried mushroom
- Danger of confusion: Gray Leistling, Black Chalice Mushroom
Pfifferling, Eierschwamm, Dotterpilz (Cantharellus cibarus)
- Occurrence: Deciduous and coniferous forests
- Cap: deepened like a funnel, diameter 2-12 cm, rim wavy
- Hat color: light to yolk yellow
- Stem: 1-2 cm thick, base tapered, yellow
- Growth height: 3-6 cm
- Flesh: white, yellow under cuticle, odor like peach
- Fruiting bodies: June – October
- Specialties: edible
- Risk of confusion: Wrong chanterelle
Ritterlinge (Tricholoma)
These types of mushrooms native to Germany are thick-fleshed, but only a few of them are edible. Characteristic are the bulging and grown lamellae on the stem.
Earthquake, Gray Earthworm (Tricholoma terreum)
- Occurrence: coniferous forests, mainly pine forests
- Cap: 3-8 cm in diameter, spread out, humped, cap skin dull, fibrous and finely scaly
- Hat color: slate to dark gray, almost black
- Stem: 0.8-1.5 cm thick, white to off-white
- Growth height: 4-8 cm
- Flesh: very thin, off-white, odorless
- Fruiting bodies: August – November/December
- Specialties: edible
- Risk of confusion: tiger knightling
Maipilz, Mairitterling (Calocybe gambosa)
- Occurrence: grassy areas in the forest, meadows, gardens, parks
- Cap: diameter 3-10 cm, spread and humped
- Hat color: white, cream, gray or yellowish
- Stem: 1.5-4 cm thick, reddish to slightly brownish
- Growth height: 4-9 cm
- Flesh: firm, juicy, white, floury to cucumber-like odor
- Fruiting bodies: April – June
- Specialties: edible
- Danger of confusion: field trumpet, corn crack fungus
Sulfur Knight (Tricholoma sulphureum)
- Occurrence: deciduous forests, under beeches and oaks
- Cap: Diameter 2-7 cm, flattened and humped, velvety to fibrous cap skin
- Cap color: sulfur yellow, brownish or dark olive in the middle
- Stem: 0.5-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical to clavate, brownish, hollow
- Growth height: 4-8 cm
- Flesh: sulfur yellow, gas-like odor
- Fruiting bodies: August – October
- Special features: raw poisonous, cooked inedible
- Likelihood of confusion: Green body
Schirmlinge (Lepiota)
There are many native species. All have white to light lamellae on the underside of the hat. There is also a stem ring.
Giant parasol mushroom (Macrolepiota procera)
- Occurrence: forest meadows, clear cuts, forest and roadsides
- Cap: diameter 10-30 cm, scaly surface, sparsely opening, blunt hump in the middle
- Hat Color: Hazel to ocher
- Stem: 1-2 cm thick, serpentine, hollow, bulbous base, sliding ring
- Growth height: 20-40 cm
- Flesh: white, soft, woody stem, nutty taste
- Fruiting bodies: July – November
- Specialties: edible
- Likelihood of confusion: saffron parasol
Täublinge (Russula)
Typical of these agarics are the dry, brittle flesh and the brittle lamellae. The fruiting bodies are large and brightly colored.
Lady russula, violet-green russula (Russula cyanoxantha)
- Occurrence: Deciduous forests, preferably under beeches and oaks
- Cap: diameter 5-18 cm, extended, depressed
- Hat color: from slate gray to violet to green, ocher yellow, bluish, brownish or black-violet
- Stem: 2-3 cm thick, mostly spongy, slightly violet to reddish
- Growth height: 4-12 cm
- Flesh: white, reddish under cuticle
- Fruiting bodies: June – November
- Specialties: edible
- Risk of confusion: green death cap mushroom
Dandelion (Russula vesca)
- Occurrence: deciduous forests, under beeches and oaks
- Cap: diameter 6-12 cm, extended to depressed
- Hat color: flesh-red, also brown-red or violet, flecked with grey
- Stem: 1-3 cm thick, cylindrical, brittle, white
- Growth height: 3-8 cm
- Flesh: white, often yellow to brownish spots
- Fruiting bodies: June – October
- Specialties: edible
- Danger of confusion: spit russula, herring russula
Speitäubling, Kirschroter Täubling (Russula emetica)
- Occurrence: humid deciduous and coniferous forests
- Cap: diameter 4-10 cm, spread flat, depressed
- Hat color: bright red
- Stem: 1-2 cm thick, white, base speckled with pink, hollow, clavate thickened
- Growth height: 3-10 cm
- Flesh: white, reddish under the cuticle, fragile
- Fruiting bodies: July – November
- Specifics: toxic, causes indigestion
- Risk of confusion: apple russula, herring russula
Funnellets (Clitocybe)
The funnel-shaped, depressed hats are decisive. On the underside of which there are straight, closely spaced and declining lamellae. Some native white species are deadly poisonous.
Field trumpet, white poison trumpet (Clitocybe dealbata)
- Occurrence: Meadows, fields, roadsides, parks
- Cap: diameter 2-5 cm, funnel-shaped
- Hat color: white with occasional orange patches
- Stem: 0.5-0.6 cm thick, white to ocher or pink
- Growth height: 2-4 cm
- Flesh: thin, white, floury smell
- Fruiting bodies: July – November
- Special features: deadly poisonous
- Danger of confusion: flour rasling
Nebelkappe, Nebelgrauer Röteltrichterling (Lepista nebularis)
- Occurrence: Deciduous and coniferous forests, often standing in rows or rings
- Cap: diameter 6-18 cm, extended, depressed
- Hat color: grey, grey-brown, frosted with whitish
- Stem: 1.5-4 cm thick, white to light grey, base clavate and thickened
- Growth height: 6-10 cm
- Flesh: white, sweet milky smell
- Fruiting bodies: September – November
- Features: edible, cook well
- Likelihood of confusion: giant boletus
frequently asked Questions
The best time is after prolonged rain and subsequent warm days. Then the fruiting bodies literally shoot out of the ground. Mushrooms collected early in the morning will still be firm and intact. After three to four days, mushrooms ready for harvest will appear again in a good gathering place.
A doctor should always be consulted after the first sign of poisoning. If this is not possible immediately, vomiting must be induced. Drinking salt water, three tablespoons of table salt in a glass of water, can be helpful. Never drink milk. Many toxins can be dissolved in it and get into the bloodstream more quickly. Furthermore, food and cleaning residues should be taken to the doctor to determine which fungus it is.
