What are Mushroom Spores?

A while back on a popular Reddit mushroom forum, someone asked, “What’s the name of this mushroom and why does it release smoke when I put my hand underneath?”

If you’ve ever gone mushroom foraging, you have also probably seen what appears to be wisps of smoke rising from beneath mushroom caps as you crouched down to study the fungi or perhaps noticed a thin, fine powder on the forest floor surrounding the mushrooms. (While on the topic of foraging, it’s important to acknowledge that there are dangerous and poisonous mushroom varieties. It takes a skilled forager to correctly distinguish between edible and inedible mushrooms in the wild.)

The mysterious cloud you and the Reddit user who asked the question saw wasn’t smoke, but millions of mushroom spores — tiny, invisible-to-human-sight cells that allow fungi to reproduce — being released by the mushrooms. A mushroom spore is a unicellular organism (uni…that’s one, folks) paramount to the reproduction and growth of mushroom fungi.

Once a healthy mushroom matures, its gills, teeth, or pores on the underside of its cap produce millions, sometimes billions, of spores. The cap acts as a canopy, shielding the spores from direct sunlight and rain.

When these tiny reproductive units are transported by the wind, animals, water, etc., and they land in a spot ideal for mushroom growth, the life cycle of a mushroom begins. A favorable environment involves sufficient moisture, organic matter (such as animal feces or decaying wood), nutrients, and warm temperatures needed for the spores to germinate and create mycelium.

Mycelium, or mushroom roots, spread through the earth or decomposing materials, absorbing nutrients necessary for developing the fruiting body—the new mushroom seen above ground. 

After releasing spores, most mushrooms soon die, having fulfilled their biological need for reproduction. Consequently, you may think of the spore release stage as marking the beginning and end of a mushroom’s life.

Amazing, right? Now here’s a mind-bender for you: What came first, the mushroom or the spore?

Where does one find mushroom spores?

Spores are located in the gills, teeth, or pores on the underside of the mushroom cap. They either drop or are ejected from the underside of this cap. The extremely small size of the spores can be carried on gentle air currents and deposited on both non-fertile and fertile surfaces. Those that do find fertile conditions (as mentioned above) will extend mycelium into the ground and intertwine with other shoots to begin the reproduction process.

Psilocybe Cubensis Mushrooms (Penis Envy, Blue Meanie, PEZ Amazonian, etc.), Edible Mushrooms (Shiitake, Portobello, Morel, etc.), and Medicinal Mushrooms (Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Chaga, etc.) are examples of mushroom varieties that have been identified and utilized for thousands of years, respectively.

Sidenote: how cool are some of these mushroom names!? Much like the fruit of a tree and the seeds within the fruit, mushrooms produce billions of spores daily. The fruiting bodies produced by these spores have numerous beneficial properties.

As Nicholas Money, botanist at Miami University in Ohio, says, “mushrooms are a masterpiece in natural engineering.”

Spore prints (and why they matter)

Researchers, mushroom enthusiasts, and even artists harvest spores for varying uses — including cultivating and identifying mushrooms and creating cool decorative artwork.

So, how do researchers and laypeople capture mushroom spores? 

Many times, the answer is a spore print, which is created by laying the underside of a mushroom cap on paper, glass or tinfoil to allow the gills, teeth, or pores to drop millions of spores that make a powdery, one-of-a-kind print, not dissimilar to a fingerprint.

Spores come in different shapes, sizes, and colors, including green, red, purple, black, rust, and shades of white (which, remember, are invisible to the human eye). Among other factors, the color of a spore print can help mycologists identify different types of mushrooms because when tons of spores are together their color is recognizable to the naked eye, aiding in the identification process.

As an illustration, the spores of a Reishi mushroom are dark brown, whereas those of a Lion’s Mane are white.

To confirm identification and gain a deeper understanding of the spores’ structure, mycologists might further analyze the spore print under a microscope. It’s also possible to cultivate novel and intriguing mushroom species using the collected spores.

Fancy yourself a DIY’er? Making your mushroom spore prints is simple and doesn’t require expensive equipment.

In addition to a mature mushroom, you’ll need a paper, glass, or tinfoil surface, a glass jar, a sharp knife, and an airtight plastic baggie. 

This is how to create a print of spores:

1. Look for a healthy, well-grown, fresh mushroom (make sure it’s a known edible kind). Using a younger mushroom is not recommended, as it may not have adequate spores to form a print, and certain types of mushrooms could have partially covered pores or gills.

2. Detach the mushroom’s cap from the stem. It is advisable to take precautions against contamination if you’re creating a spore print for scientific or cultivation purposes. Use a sterile knife and ensure that your hands, glass, and workplace are all clean. Carefully cut off the mushroom cap from the stem using a knife or your hands, being cautious not to harm the gills or scatter the spores on the underside. With the gills, pores, or teeth pointing down and exposed, place the mushroom cap on your paper, glass, or tinfoil surface.

3. Put a glass jar over the cap. This prevents air flow from spreading the spores when they fall and lets the mushroom maintain moisture, which will aid in its spore release. For a few hours, avoid disturbing the mushroom cap. A complete spore print may appear in as little as two hours if the mushroom is mature and recently harvested, but typically, it takes 6-12 hours to create a distinct spore print. You can keep an eye on things and determine when the spore print is ready thanks to the transparent glass covering.

4. Reveal the print. The pattern of spores that appears when you raise the glass jar and mushroom cap is the spore print that you can use to identify the fungus or grow it in the future. If kept in a sealed bag in a cool, dry, and dark environment, spores can survive for years. 

The spores from a print are frequently used by mycologists and mushroom growers to make mushroom spore syringes, which are syringes packed with spores suspended in a sterile liquid solution (typically distilled water).

Millions of single spores can be found in a tiny spore print, which can be used to create several spore syringes. The spores are preserved by the syringes, which makes it possible to examine them under a microscope for additional research and inoculate them into substrates for growing mushrooms later.

Get your premium mushroom spore syringes for research from PNW Spore Co., one of the most reputable online retailers of magic mushroom spores (check out our customer reviews here).

Are Mushroom Spores Legal?

While it’s legal nationwide to possess the spores of gourmet and medicinal mushrooms, such as morel, reishi, Lion’s Mane, shiitake, oyster mushrooms and more, the legality of magic mushroom spores depends on where you live.

Psilocybin, a substance found in magic mushrooms, is classified as a Schedule I controlled drug in the U.S., making it unlawful to possess or distribute.

Psychedelic mushrooms don’t contain psilocybin and/or psilocin until they develop mycelium. So, because magic mushroom spores lack any psychoactive components, they’re permitted in most U.S. states, except in California, Georgia, and Idaho. However, it is illegal in many places to use the spores to grow psilocybin mushrooms.

If you’re interested in utilizing mushroom spores for research or production, you must be aware of the laws and restrictions in your area before doing so.