This page lists only South Dakota (and Midwest) mushrooms that do not fit into the other five categories of my mushroom guide. If you want to identify other types of mushrooms such as spherical mushrooms, mushrooms with stem & gills, shelf mushrooms, etc. please start on the main mycology page:
Bisporella Citrina (possible wrong ID!)
Habitat: saprobe, decaying wood
Spore Print: colorless
Season: summer through fall
Notes: ID was made based on this photo I found hiding in an old memory card. Color should be BRIGHT YELLOW but when this fungus gets old and dried out it turns orange and since the mushroom in the above photo was found in October during a dry week I decided it fit well enough to temporarily label this B. Citrina but I’m going back to my guidebooks….
Clavicorona Pyxidata
Habitat: forests, dead deciduous wood, saprophytic
Spore Print: white
Season: early summer through fall
Notes: This mushroom grows all over Sioux Falls, SD after rainstorms. I have found it near four separate hiking trails. Spore print was white and surprisingly easy to obtain. Grows on wood and is edible but I haven’t tried it yet due to other coral mushroom species being toxic.
Ductifera pululahuana
Habitat: forests, dead deciduous wood, saprophytic
Spore Print: white
Season: early summer through fall
Notes: It’s names like this that make me wonder how I will ever remember the scientific names of mushrooms. With that said, I have a crappy photo of the least impressive specimen of this species that I have found. Seriously, I find logs covered in this globby stuff during rainy weeks but I can’t seem to find the memory card to prove my impressive story, ha!
Hydnellum Aurantiacum
Habitat: mycorrhizal under trees
Spore Print: brown
Season: summer through fall
Notes: This mushroom has a velvety cap with spore-bearing teeth. The mushroom envelopes surrounding debris as it grows. It lives in a mycorrhizal relationship with surrounding trees. This one was found late August 2022 Sioux Falls, SD. I’ve undoubtedly seen this at other trails but didn’t have the time to document.
Irpex Lacteus
Habitat: saprophytic
Spore Print: white
Season: adds new growth yearly
Notes: I think this mushroom takes the #1 spot for the most frequently found mushroom near Sioux Falls, SD. My kids call it out so much that even I have started to get bored of it. Haha! But I gotta love any mushroom that can be found when it is -20*F outside!
Lichen (MANY SPECIES!!!!)
Notes: I became quite fascinated with lichen after reading Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake. Lichen is a symbiotic relationship between a fungus, algae, and many other small microbes which allows them all to survive in places that they could not individually survive in.
Stemonitis Axifera (tube slime mold, sporangia)
Habitat: often found on dead wood
Spore Print: –
Season: –
Notes: commonly known as chocolate tube slime. this is a funky fungus. haha
pachyella clypeata
Habitat: saprobic on decaying wood
Spore Print: –
Season: spring, summer, fall
Notes: originally mis-identified as young tremella foliacea! P. clypeata also looks a lot like Auricularia auricula (go to cup shaped mushrooms) which I find all over Sioux Falls from early winter to late fall… But this specimen was found in Minnesota. I know, I’m cheating because this is a South Dakota mycology blog but yolo.
(x. polymorpha) Dead Man’s Fingers
Habitat: saprophytic, decaying deciduous wood
Spore Print: black
Season: summer through fall
Notes: The latin or scientific name is xylaria polymorpha. I try my hardest to learn the proper name but let’s be honest, “Dead Man’s Fingers” SHOULD be the scientific name! Haha. Not edible but I frequently find this when I am crouching near dying wood in the summer. The top right photo may potentially be Xylaria Hypoxylon due to the very skinny stature but I didn’t take any home for a proper ID due to age.
South Dakota Fungi 