Most people consider mushrooms to be the small, ugly cousins of the plant kingdom, but theirs is a surprisingly beautiful and wonderful world waiting to be explored. These beautiful mushrooms, captured by enthusiastic nature photographers, are a far cry from the ones you find in the woods or your local grocery store.

Most mushrooms, as we know them, are actually just the reproductive structure of the fungus they belong to – their fungal networks expand far further underground, and some fungi don’t even sprout the sort of mushrooms that we’re used to seeing. In fact, depending on your definition of “organism,” the largest living organism in the world is a fungus – there’s a honey mushroom colony in Oregon that occupies about 2,000 acres of land!

#1

Puffballs

#2

Mycena Chlorophos

#3

Marasmius Haematocephalus

#4

Rhodotus Palmatus

#5

Phallus Indusiatus

#6

Schizophyllum Commune

#7

Amethyst Deceiver

#8

Panus Fasciatus

#9

Clathrus Ruber

#10

Porcelain Fungus

#11

Cup Fungus

#12

Lepiota

#13

Leratiomyces

#14

Hydnellum Peckii

#15

Favolaschia Calocera

#16

Cyathus Striatus

#17

Coprinus Comatus

#18

Mushrooms With A Snail

#19

Geastrum Minimum

#20

Aseroe Rubra

#21

Morchella Esculenta

#22

Puffball Mushroom

#23

Crepidotus

#24

Tiny Golden Mushrooms

#25

Chorioactis

 

#26

Hairy Mycena

#27

Amanita Muscaria

#28

Cup Fungi

#29

Laccaria Amethystina

#30

Illuminated Mushroom

#31

Tiny Orange Mushrooms

#32

Entoloma Hochstetteri

 

#33

Lactarius Indigo

#34

Mycena Viscidocruenta

#35

Cyptotrama Aspratum

#36

Black Fungus

#37

Panaleous Sphinctrinus

#38

Toothed Mushroom

#39

Clavaria Zollingeri

#40

Parasola Miser

#41

Oudemansiella Mucida

#42

Chlorociboria

#43

Illuminati

#44

Entoloma Hochstetteri

#45

Clathrus Archeri

 

#46

Coprinus Cordisporus

#47

Stemonitis Axifera

#48

Xylaria Hypoxylon

#49

Octopus Stinkhorn (Devils Fingers)

#50

Clavaria Zollingeri