Group E - Gilled fungi with a central to eccentric stem and an
annulus on the upper portion of the stem

1. Spore print white

    2. Gill edges uneven, finely scalloped or serrate; cap whitish with brown scales

        3. Gill edges uneven, finely scalloped; gills not bruising brown ............................Leucopholiota decorosa

        3. Gill edges serrate; gills bruising brown .................................................................Neolentinus lepideus

    2. Gill edges even

        4. Gills free .....................................................................................................Leucoagaricus americanus

        4. Gills attached

            5. Gills not markedly decurrent

                6. Cap yellow brown, sticky, with erect black hairs over the darker center. Associated with black
                    shoestring-like rhizomorphs under the bark of parasitized trees.....................Armillaria mellea

                    Note: The traditional species Armillaria mellea has been divided into a number of separate
                               species. Many of them occur in the Northeast and some of them can be identified
                               with certainty only with microscopic examination. Some of these species are
                               illustrated on the Armillaria spp. page.

                6. Cap orange and granular; stalk sheathed with orange granules up to ring ......Cystoderma granosum

            5. Gills strongly decurrent on the stem; veil an evanescent, membranous ring leaving
                fragments on the cap margin.............................................................................Pleurotus dryinus

1. Spore print either orange to rusty orange to rusty brown to brown or purple-brown or darker

    7. Spore print orange to rusty orange to rusty brown to brown

        Note: Two large genera, Pholiota and Gymnopilus, fall under this key lead. Unfortunately,
                   very few species within these genera can be reliably identified based solely on macroscopic
                   features. In fact, microscopic examination of the spores may be required to reliably differentiate
                   Pholiota from Gymnopilus species. Because of this, only a few common and conspicuous Pholiota
                   species are keyed below with additional diversity illustrated on a Pholiota spp. page. For
                   Gymnopilus, no individual species are keyed out but diversity within the genus is illustrated on a
                   Gymnopilus spp. page.

        8. Cap and stalk covered with conspicuous scales or granules

            9. Basidiocarps solitary to several; cap margin ragged with partial veil remnants;
                a zone of fibers or a slight ring on the upper stalk......................Flammulaster erinaceellus

            9. Basidiocarps typically in cespitose clusters or if solitary, then bright yellow

                10. Cap sticky to viscid (slimy)

                    11. Cap and stalk yellow; shaggy with bright yellow curled scales .......Pholiota flammans

                    11. Cap and stalk not yellow; brownish scales present

                          12. Cap slimy, scales flat...............................................................Pholiota aurivella

                          12. Cap sticky, scales erect and pointed .................................... Pholiota squarrosoides

                10. Cap dry............................................................................................Pholiota squarrosa

        8. Cap and stalk not covered with conspicuous scales, spore print rust-brown to brown

                  13. Cap yellow-brown, fading to pale tan; cap may be cracked to fissured
                        with age; stalk with cordlike white rhizomorphs at base; spore print
                        brown; flesh of cap white, unchanging .............................................. Agrocybe spp.

                  13. Cap dark brown and fading; cap not cracking; white rhizomorphs
                        absent at base of stalk; spore print rusty-brown; flesh of cap
                        yellowish to brownish, unchanging..................................................Galerina marginata

     7. Spore print purple-brown to purple-black to black

         14. Annulus membranous (i.e., like a membrane or thin skin)

               15. Cap cylindrical when young, covered with shaggy reddish-brown scales; cap                       
                     expands with age becoming black and inky as the gills auto-digest (deliquesce)
                     from the cap margin to the top of the stipe..............................................Coprinus comatus

               15. Cap not as above; gills do not deliquesce

                     16. Annulus persistent, conspicuous, segmented on the underside and
                           radially grooved on the upper surface.......................................Stropharia rugosoannulata

                     16. Annulus evanescent, fragile, not as above..................................... Psathyrella candolleana

         14. Annulus not membranous but rather in the form of a conspicuous ring zone of appressed fibers near apex
               of stalk. Such fibrillose zones may take on the dark color of the spores after sufficient spore deposition
               and accumulation.

               17. Cap yellowish; gills yellow, then greenish, then tinted purple-brown
                     when mature...................................................................................Hypholoma fasciculare

               17. Cap brick-red; gills whitish, becoming purplish-gray at maturity.....Hypholoma lateritium