Spore Prints

[Dave W]

Taking spore prints can be helpful when attempting to ID a mushroom collection. It is important to use both a black and a white background. Two pieces of paper set alongside each other are sufficient. I use a custom-made plastic black and white spore board.

Lie the mushroom cap with spore-bearing surface (gills, pores, etc.) down so that it straddles both black and white backgrounds. Cover with a cup so that air movement does not push the spores as they drop.

Light prints will show up very distinctly against the black, but the subtle difference in color is seen on the white. Here are three examples.

1. Amanita citrina var. lavendula. The white print is very showy against the black. Aside form textural differnces, the color blends with the white background. This is how one determines a white print.

2. Lepista nuda (Blewit) has a fleshy pink print, although I have found variability in the depth of color, with some collections having lighter or darker prints that we see here. Notice how the light print shows very well against the black, but the subtle color is best seen on the white.

3. Clitocybe tarda. Looks just like the Blewit print! So other criteria is necessary in order to get an ID for C. tarda. This type mushroom is generally smaller and thinner than a Blewit, with gills attached more broadly and becoming slightly decurrent.

Most brown prints show well on either color.

4. I think these two mushrooms are Cortinarius specimens (not certain).

5. This Cortinarius croceus print is not very heavy. The rusty brown color is not as vivid as it would be for a thicker print.

Dark brown prints can sometimes be difficult to discern from pure black. These prints show very well on the white, but the subtlety of color is best seen on the black. A true black print will either disappear or be noticed only in relief when viewed on a black background.

6. This Psathyrella print is not very heavy. A heavier print would make for a better example. But one may still see that the brownishness is best seen against the black background.

[DufferinShroomer]

I use the page here.. http://www.mushroomthejournal.com/mhma/idsheet.pdf for spore prints. The alternating black and white bars seem to do a good job showing up the print color and I have an id sheet to go with it. Print one off and take it to someplace where you can get copies made. If you try to use a page printed with an inkjet printer you will find the ink isnt waterproof and the moisture in the mushroom will make a mess with the ink.

[ladyflyfsh]

try using aluminum foil. It works great!

[vitog]

Spore print sheets printed on a laser printer seem to work well.

[Feral Boy]

Spore print sheets printed on a laser printer seem to work well.

One book I have read (don't remember which one now!) recommends another method for spore

prints. Cut a circular collar out of paper with a hole in the middle and a slit for the

stalk. Then set the mushroom with the cap still attached to the full stalk upright in

a glass of water, and put the paper collar on it right under the cap, supported by the rim

of the glass. The theory is having more of the live mushroom there would make it more

likely to drop spores. It may help for some smaller ones, or those that you are having

trouble printing.

[Dave W]

FB, that sounds like a method that may get spores out of a rather reluctant mushroom. But I would also add that it's a good idea to try to rig both black and white paper beneath the mushroom.

[Sunny_0ne]

Dave, where do you find black paper? Do you use construction paper? Can you point us to a source?

[Dave W]

For spore printing I use a plastic "spore board" that a friend constructed for me. It's what is seen in the photos above. Black paper may often be found within the pages of a magazine. Often a page will include a few areas of pure black that are large enough to use. A square inch or so of each of black and white is all you need. Also, like ladyflyfish says, aluminum foil also woks. Another option is to collect spores on glass --for instance, a microscope slide-- and then place the glass atop white or black to view the color. But glare against the glass can make it a bit tricky to judge a subtle tint... like maybe dark purple brown vs. black.

Photo shows a Panaeolina foenisecii print, which is dark purple brown. The color is best viewed against the black.

Maybe you could print the black/white disk seen using the link below...?

http://www.scmsfungi.org/mycology.htm

[Sunny_0ne]

Thanks so much, Dave! I don't know why I didn't just think of doing a black/white paper with my printer!

I have used aluminum foil before and I had a very difficult time trying to see light colored spore prints on it. Of course, they were not thick spore prints because I was trying to rush things along. There is probably a lesson in patience there.

Maybe I will take the glass out of an old photo frame, tape the edges thickly to make it safe to handle, and use that. At least until I can buy some Plexiglass.

I don't know why I thought I had to buy specialty black paper! I am one of those who usually devises the most difficult, circuitous way to do anything!