Plants & Fungi A - Z
Explore our profiles of plants and fungi.
These illustrated profiles contain a wealth of facts, including details on conservation, uses and habitats – as well as Kew’s connections with the species. They have been chosen to inspire interest in plants, detail our science and conservation work and showcase star plants in the Gardens.
This is a constantly growing resource with new profiles added every week - so do be sure to check back regularly.
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Agaricus arvensis (horse mushroom)
The horse mushroom is a good, sought-after edible fungus, related to the common cultivated mushroom (A. bisporus) and with a pleasant aniseed-like odour.
Amanita muscaria (fly agaric)
One of the most iconic and distinctive of British fungi, fly agaric, with its red cap and white spots, is renowned for its toxicity and hallucinogenic properties.
More: Fungi, Medicinal, Traditions and beliefs
Calocybe gambosa (St George’s mushroom)
St George's mushroom is one of the few good edible fungi to be found in spring, usually appearing in late April close to St George’s Day (23rd April), hence the popular name.
Calvatia gigantea (giant puffball)
Calvatia gigantea produces perhaps the largest fruitbody of any fungus, and is aptly referred to as the giant puffball. The unmistakeable fruitbodies, which appear in late summer and autumn, are often the size of footballs and sometimes much larger.
More: Fungi, Food, Medicinal, Little and large
Camillea leprieurii
Camillea leprieurii is a fungus dependent on rainforest trees for survival but can only be easily detected when observed growing out of dead branches.
More: Fungi
Clathrus archeri (devil's fingers)
Clathrus archeri, also known as devil's fingers, has a gelatinous egg stage from which the fruitbody arises, its four to eight reddish arms each coated with dark, foul-smelling tissue.
More: Fungi, Out of the ordinary
Cyphelium notarisii (soot lichen)
Found on wooden structures, Cyphelium notarisii can be distinguished from similar lichens by the sooty residue left on fingers after rubbing the fruitbodies.
More: Fungi
Cyttaria darwinii (Darwin's fungus)
Darwin's fungus is a parasitic, golf ball-like fungus that was named in honour of Charles Darwin, who collected it in Tierra del Fuego during his voyage on HMS Beagle in 1832.
More: Fungi, Food, Great plant hunters
Hericium erinaceus (bearded tooth)
A wood-recycling fungus of conservation concern, bearded tooth has distinctive white football-sized fruitbodies, covered in icicle-like projections.
Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus (chalara ash dieback)
Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus is a virulent fungal pathogen of ash trees that causes ‘chalara ash dieback’ in northern and central Europe and has recently spread to the UK.
More: Making the news, Fungi
Lactarius chromospermus (igisazi)
Lactarius chromospermus is an African milk-cap fungus species with chocolate brown gills that only forms a symbiotic relationship with species of Brachystegia in Miombo woodland.
More: Fungi, Plant fungal relationships
Lactifluus gymnocarpoides (Ubutuntutuntu)
Lactifluus gymnocarpoides is an edible species of milk cap fungus that form relationships with the roots of certain tropical legume trees and is widespread in tropical Africa.
More: Fungi, Food, Plant fungal relationships
Leratiomyces ceres (redlead roundhead)
Redlead roundhead is an attractive fungus easily recognised by its orange, slimy cap and dark gills. It can be found growing in large clusters on woodchip mulch.
More: Fungi
Leucocoprinus birnbaumii (plantpot dapperling)
The aptly named ‘plantpot dapperling’ mushroom often provides a surprise when its brilliant yellow fruiting bodies spring suddenly but fleetingly from plant pots in the dead of winter.
More: Fungi, House plants, Little and large
Lycoperdon perlatum (common puffball)
Fruiting throughout the autumn, the common puffball can be recognised by the shape of the fruitbody, its fragile, conical spines and the network-like pattern which is left when these are eroded or rubbed away.
Morchella esculenta (common morel)
The common morel and related species, popularly known as morels, produce their distinctive fruitbodies in spring and are sought-after edible fungi.
Myriostoma coliforme (pepperpot earthstar)
The pepperpot earthstar was first described from Britain as a new species in 1776. It was considered extinct in the UK until recently rediscovered in Suffolk.
More: Fungi
Puccinia libanotidis (moon carrot rust)
Unrecorded since 1946, moon carrot rust was regarded as a fungus extinct in Britain until it was rediscovered in 2009 in three populations of its host, a rare plant of the southern English chalk hills.
More: Fungi
Russula meleagris
The fungus Russula meleagris is always found in a mutually beneficial association with a tropical legume tree species, Gilbertiodendron dewevrei, and has a smell that has been described as resembling that of a public toilet!
More: Fungi, Out of the ordinary, Plant fungal relationships
Sparassis crispa (cauliflower fungus)
Cauliflower fungus grows parasitically on the roots of conifers, and can be recognised by its distinctive, whitish to pale buff, much-lobed fruitbodies, which have been considered to resemble a cauliflower.
More: Fungi
Urocystis primulicola (bird’s-eye primrose smut)
Bird’s-eye primrose smut, regarded as an extinct British fungus until its rediscovery in 2010, lives concealed inside its pink-flowered host, only attracting attention when it replaces the plant’s seeds with masses of blackish smut spores.
More: Fungi, Kew discoveries
Ustilago maydis (maize smut)
Maize smut is an economically important fungus which infects the stems, leaves and flowers of sweetcorn and may cause severe crop losses.
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