Welcome to FunKey: Key to Agarics, an interactive key and information system for the genera of agarics occurring in Australia. Agarics are the gilled fungi, colloquially referred to as mushrooms and toadstools.

The key module of FunKey runs under the Lucid interactive identification and information software. The Lucid interactive key allows you to quickly and reliably compare your specimens with the characteristics of all Australian agaric genera. If the comparison finds a ‘match’, the name of the matching taxon will be shown – you have identified your specimen. You can then look at a fact sheet that includes a description and photographs of that taxon. Comprehensive assistance on how to use the Lucid interactive key is provided through the Help option of the key itself, which is accessed via the question mark in the blue circle on the toolbar. There is also extensive documentation on How to use FunKey, along with a FunKey Tutorial, information on Best Practice in identifying with FunKey and advice on setting up a FunKey Super Session, which makes use of a variety of features of the Lucid key for optimum identification.

At the head of this page and every other information page in FunKey (such as the taxon fact sheets, the glossary and the help pages) is a menu that allows you to move between the different pages. All the links operate in the same way as an internet website, except that the information is stored on the FunKey USB flash drive and not at a remote web address.

From within the Lucid key you can access fact sheets for taxa and character states from the fact sheet icons beside the taxon and character state names. Once you have entered the fact sheets, use the menu at the head of the page to navigate to other pages (such as the Glossary). If you are within the Lucid key, you can also return to the Home page with the Home button on the toolbar. The Home page has links to the overview (this page) and the How to use FunKey page. If you already have the name of a taxon that you are interested in, you do not have to go through the key to access information, but you can browse the Index to taxa, and from there access individual fact sheets. You can also browse the Index to character states, and from there access individual fact sheets for each character state.

One hundred and twelve genera of Australian agarics are included in FunKey. Some genera have been split into two or more Identification units and therefore there are 159 taxa in total in the key (a mix of genera, subdivisions of genera, species groups and individual species). Use of identification units is intended to facilitate identification, especially in very diverse genera that can be conveniently split into units such as subgenera, or where treating a single rather discordant species separately makes the rest of the genus key out more readily. Each taxon (whether a whole genus, part of a genus, species group or species) has a Taxon fact sheet.

Among the agarics are edible fungi such as Field Mushroom Agaricus campestris and Pine mushroom Lactarius deliciosus, but also poisonous species such as Yellow-staining mushroom Agaricus xanthodermus and the Death cap Amanita phalloides (consumption of which has caused fatalities in Australia).

We do not provide any information on toxicity or edibility in relation to genera or to species in FunKey (such as in taxon fact sheets).

The only safe way to consume wild fungi is to be certain of the identification of the particular species and to seek information on edibility or otherwise from reputable sources. Be aware that many species of edible fungi have readily confusable look-a-likes, such the toxic Ghost fungus Omphalotus nidiformis for the cultivated Oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus and the two species of Agaricus mentioned above. Note also that some genera contain a mix of toxic and edible species. The edibility of most native Australian fungi is unknown; indeed, many species are not yet formally named, and Australian field guides do not include all species (named or not).