Pennsylvania Fungi List
Below is a list of all the species of fungi - lichenized and non-lichenized, native and introduced - known to grow outside of cultivation in Pennsylvania based on available evidence.
Species qualified for this list if they were backed up by a DNA barcode or were photo-documented and confirmed by trusted identifiers. Other photo-only or voucher-only observations were not considered sufficient to determine presence.
There may be thousands of additional fungal species in Pennsylvania that were not included in this list due to lack of sufficient evidence of presence. However, new species and new state records are continually being discovered, known species may be renamed; more species are being introduced through human activities that move plant and fungal material, and native species may also be migrating naturally. Therefore, please return to this page regularly for updated information.
Contact us at ra-nrNHPfungi@pa.gov if you think you've found a fungus in the wilds of Pennsylvania not represented on this list or otherwise have feedback to share.
No one taxonomic standard was used, but preference was given to the current names being used by iNaturalist. Index Fungorum and MycoBank were additional references.
List last revised 1/13/2026.
Definitions:
- Introduced species: arrived through human introduction in the modern era. It may be native elsewhere in North America or have arrived from elsewhere in the world.
- Nativity status suspect: species that have been suggested to be nonnative to the mid-Atlantic region or emerging pathogens whose origin is unclear.
- Voucher: a preserved specimen stored in a professional or personal collection, such as a herbarium or fungarium.
- DNA barcoding: the analysis of a short section (a “barcode”) of the DNA sequence in material from an organism that can be used to identify a species.
- Lichenized fungi: the mycobiont (fungal partner) species in a lichen symbiosis for which the lichen is named. (The photosynthetic algal and/or cyanobacterial partner(s) are the photobiont.)
Acknowledgements: Thanks go to John Plischke III and Kim Plischke, James Lendemer, Pete Woods, Stephen Bucklin, Jerry Hassinger, Dave Wasilewski, Garrett Taylor, and Sam Bucciarelli for their many contributions directly to the curation of this list, as well as their overwhelming investment in promoting mushroom and lichen curiosity. Thanks to Jason Hafstad for his early input on the formatting of this list. Additional thanks go to the mycology clubs and community mycologists that go the extra mile in making high quality observations and get their specimens DNA barcoded, which greatly supports the accuracy of this list, and Mycota Lab, Ohio Mushroom DNA Lab, and the Fungal Diversity Survey lab for processing a large bulk of those specimens and promoting community science.
Mycologist C.B. Wolfe, Jr., compiled a species list of Pennsylvania fungi in 1995 based on specimens vouchered in fungaria, with funding from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' Wild Resource Conservation Program. Subsequently, John Plischke III maintained the list for years. Species lists of specifically lichenized fungi in Pennsylvania were compiled by James K. McGrath and Robert J. Hill pre-2000, and James Lendemer has contributed recent lists. Stephen Bucklin and Pete Woods have also made contributions to our modern lichen funga. PNHP conservation mycologist Hannah Huber is the lead curator of the all-fungi list presented on this page.
