Mushrooms belong to the Fungi group of species. They most commonly get their energy from decaying materials, because of the fact that they don't have any chlorophyll which means that they cannot produce their own food. They mostly grow in more temperate regions, during seasons in which the weather is relatively warm and moist. Mushrooms can be found in forests, pastures, meadows and on similar places. Mushrooms can come in different colors and forms. The most common mushrooms have short and thick stipes and caps that make them look a bit like umbrellas.

Inside these caps, one can mostly see thin sheets of flesh called gills. The gills grow from between the cap lining and the stipe. These gills produce spores which grow as the mushroom matures. At a certain age, the spores start to be dropped and blown away by the wind. Eventually, they settle to te ground, and gradually, from these spores, mycelium is formed. Finally, after the mycellium is strong and large enough, it starts to fruit mushrooms.

Some varieties of mushrooms are very tasty, but one must also keep in mind that there are also many species which are poisonous, so one must be careful when going mushroom hunting. There are also mushroom species which are not poisonous, but they are not edible either, because of their tough flesh or bad taste and/or smell. With time, one can learn to easily distinguish the various species of mushrooms, in order to greatly lower the possibility of confusing a certain edible species, with a species which is not edible.

The edible varieties of mushrooms can either be cooked with other ingredients, or eaten by themselves. They can be paired with meat, other vegetables, or made into soups or sauces. It is not very difficult to prepare mushrooms because they often don't need to be peeled, and in many species, one can eat both the cap and the stipe. However, they should be used only when fresh, because they can cause problems when they are spoiled, and they tend to spoil relatively fast.

Along with the mentioned culinary purposes, certain species also known as medicinal mushrooms, have also been used successfully in the treatment of many different conditions and problems. Sometimes the medicinal mushrooms are also used in the combination with medicinal herbs in order to get an even better and faster results.

On this site, we will mention some of the most important and most common mushrooms, together with the information about their edibility and medicinal properties, as well as information that can be useful for the successful identification of these species.