Spore print white to cream, but mushroom not otherwise as in any of the above choices; gills attached; other characters exceedingly variable: 4. Cap and gills orange overall; gills somewhat decurrent, repeatedly and regularly forked but not crossveined; growing on or about decaying conifer wood or needle litter; spores elliptic to cylindric, smooth, mostly dextrinoid: Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca (Wulfen : Fries) Maire Gills widely spaced and poorly formed or absent; cap covered with brown powder when mature; spores smooth, oval, inamyloid: Asterophora lycoperdoides (Bulliard : Merat) Ditmar in Link 29. Macroscopically not as in any of the above choices; spores smooth to roughened or appearing dotted, globose to elliptic or almond-shaped, inamyloid: Genus, 28. 38. 44. Cap 4" (10 cm) wide at most, white, thin-fleshed, pliant; spore print white; gills narrow, crowded, white to yellowish; stalk virtually absent; typically found in groups or almost clustered on dead conifer logs, especially hemlock; spores globose or nearly so, smooth, inamyloid: 31. All content at americanmushrooms.com is Copyright © 2006, 2007 by David W. Fischer. Cap usually white, gray, tan, brown, not typically colorful, often sunken to funnel-like; gills thin, usually distinctly decurrent; spores smooth to finely warty, typically inamyloid (amyloid in only a few species): Genus, 44. 26. Not as in either of the above choices: 25. 36. Cap white, tan, brownish or reddish, usually distinctly scaly in age; gills free, white, close; partial veil present, usually leaving a ring on stalk; terrestrial, usually growing on dead plant debris (leaves, needles, wood chips, etc. That said, there are nonetheless scores of common (i.e., evolutionarily successful) gilled mushrooms which are so distinctive that they can be readily identified to species in the field. Gills decurrent, serrate; taste bitter or acrid; spores finely warted or spiny, amyloid: Genus, 31. Gills often mottled; stalk slender and decidedly brittle, easily snapping in half; partial veil sometimes evident; spores smooth to roughened, with an apical pore: Genus. 25. Cap convex, less than 4" (10 cm) wide; cap and stalk scaly to powdery or granular; partial veil more fibrous than membranous, leaving at most a zone of fibers near the top of the stalk; spores smooth, with or without an apical pore: Phaeomarasmius erinaceellus (Peck) Singer Gills strongly decurrent; entire mushroom orange overall, normally luminescing green when fresh (view in complete darkness for five–ten minutes); spores smooth, globose to subglobose, inamyloid: 29. Cap distinctly fuzzy, yellow to orange; spores smooth, cylindric, inamyloid: Phyllotopsis nidulans (Persoon : Fries) Singer Cap brownish yellow to yellowish brown with a white bloom, especially at the center; gills becoming distinctly rust-colored, spore print distinctly rust-colored; membranous partial veil present, leaving a membranous ring on the stalk; spores warty to wrinkled, dextrinoid: Rozites caperata (Fries) Karsten Fresh, young mushrooms producing a white, colorless, or colored "milk" or juice when injured (best observed by damaging the gills with a knife point, or by slicing the mushroom in half). 44. Not as in any of the above choices; growing on decaying remains of another mushroom, the “Shaggy Mane” (Coprinus comatus): 10. Cap 2" (5 cm) wide at most, surface dry, coated with short, erect, brown scales over a grayish brown to yellowish ground color; scales fragile, soon powdery and easily removed; gills free, bright to dark red, becoming brown; partial veil membranous, leaving remnants on the upper stalk and cap margin; stalk scurfy to nearly smooth; spore print dull red when fresh, drying purplish brown; spores 5–7 x 2–3 µm: Melanophyllum echinatum (Roth : Fries) Singer