Some polypores take a long time to mature and produce spores. If the mushroom is hard, it is more difficult to obtain spore prints from polypores growing on trees or logs. Your spore deposit will reflect the size and shape of the pores. A spore print can be made in the same way as for a gilled mushroom. Mushrooms with pores: If the mushroom has a stem and is soft and fresh, such as a bolete, the spores will be inside the pores underneath the cap. You might have a spore print when you return home or to your school. When collecting in the field or woods, you can take along some sheets of aluminum foil in your collecting basket, place the mushroom cap on the foil, and enclose it, together with the rest of the mushroom, in the foil.

If you don't want to separate the cap from the stem, make a hole in an index card, place the card on a paper cup and slide the stem of the mushroom through the hole until the underside of the cap is resting on the card then proceed as above.

If you have only one specimen to study, just use a portion of the cap. The spores will fall on the paper, foil or glass, making a spore print pattern. Cover the cap with a paper cup or glass and leave for 2-24 hours, depending on the humidity and the freshness of the mushroom. Put a drop of water on the top of the cap to help release the spores. Cut off the stem and place the cap, with the gills facing down, on a piece of aluminum foil, a white piece of paper, an index card or a glass microscope slide.

Mushrooms with gills: The spores lie on the gill surface. Spore color can range from white to many other shades, including black. In order to see a group of spores and also the color of the spores, we can make a spore print. On a mature mushroom, many thousands of spores grow on just one gill or on a small piece of a mushroom. Mushroom spores are very small and can only be seen individually with a microscope.

Spore mushroom