The spore print is the powdery deposit obtained by allowing spores of a fungal fruit body to fall onto a surface underneath. It is an important diagnostic character in most handbooks for identifying mushrooms. It shows the colour of the mushroom spores if viewed en masse.
Making a spore print of the mushroom Volvariella volvacea shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print. A 3.5-centimeter glass slide placed in middle allows for examination of spore characteristics under a microscope.
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. Toadstool generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
Culinary mushrooms in a diversity of shapes and colors
Amanita muscaria, the most easily recognised "toadstool", is frequently depicted in fairy stories and on greeting cards. It is often associated with gnomes.
Maitake, a polypore mushroom
A mushroom (probably Russula brevipes) parasitized by Hypomyces lactifluorum resulting in a "lobster mushroom"