1up Mushroom

August 13, 2014

The 1up mushroom of the Mario universe takes many forms. This illustration is based on the design that appears in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World combined with a green cracking russula, a real edible green mushroom.

Mushrooms found in the aforementioned games show a more immature version of the 1up mushrooms in the original Super Mario Bros. In these younger mushrooms, white spots start as small areas where the green covering have cracked. As the mushroom cap continues to expand, these regions expand circularly.

The stalk of the mushroom develops longitudinal furrows. Sometimes two nearby grooves become deep enough to give the appearance of a pair of eyes.