Here comes the backlog parade! Mushrooms, wildflowers, whatever I found.

I might have shot myself in the foot by maintaining a personal rule that I post things in the order I find them—but then I put off some postings (last year) for some reason, and then there was the terrible heat wave and drought which led to NOTHING to post for about 3 months—it all turned into a terrible logjam. Here it all comes. In the order encountered, at least.


Above, an emerging, “candling” Mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum. That’s what it’s called—“candling.” Because it looks like a candle.

I was in the right place at the right time to catch this moment of a Mayapple leaf unfurling.

I see these every spring, and every spring I cannot resist taking more photos of them.

That single mottled vertical leaf is a trout lily, Erythronium albidum. There’s also a yellow version but I have never seen them here in central Missouri.

Mayapples have a single leaf and don’t flower until they’re at least four years old, when they also develop two leaves—I wrote about it, here: http://mycologista.blogspot.com/2011/05/young-mayapple-leaf-surprises.html

Kind of hard to not anthropomorphize about these. They look an awful lot like some kind of cloaked, dejected being. It doesn’t last long, though; soon they start straightening up, and unfurl their big wonderful leaves. Which I don’t have pictures of. I like these better.



Below: Lenzites betulina that grew, then the log rolled over and it grew some more and tropism led to wild growth patterns (normally it’s your basic shelf/shell shape), and then algae grew on it. When fresh it actually has gills, but this one's been banged around in life and the gills are shredded. Also, many other people's images show algae growing on it too.

Why it’s hard to find morels.

A growth of hundreds, if not thousands, of Coprinellus disseminatus, on a tree and spilling out around it (on submerged roots, I’m assuming). Some common names are “non-inky Coprinus,” “little helmet,” “crumble cap.” Fragile little things. Unlike other ink caps, these don’t dissolve within hours of emerging into a pile of wet black goo.


Above: close-up of Coprinellus disseminatus.

Below: Polyporus alveolaris, “hexagonal-pored polypore.” These really pop out on the mostly-brown spring forest floor (always on fallen branches). “What are those orange things over there?” is what you say when you see them.


If you can’t tell what they are from the top, the pore surface will help:

Something else I can’t stop taking more pictures of, Urnula craterium. They change pretty dramatically as they age. They start as little fingers, then expand into a wide velvety cone with a smooth rim, then this happens.

That's all for that day.

Omphalotus illudens, "Jack-o'-lantern" mushroom

Got another call from a pal on the Mushroom Hotline, this time about these orange mushrooms that show up every fall on the side of his house.

If these are a bright pumpkin orange, your monitor is calibrated right.

See the little crab spider?

These are one of the few mushrooms that chanterelles can be confused with, because of the color, and the slightly decurrent gills.

These supposedly glow in the dark, but I hear it's nothing Earth-shaking, and not easy to see. I haven't tried it yet (collecting them in a damp paper towel, then locking yourself in a pitch-dark closet and sitting there for half an hour until your eyes adjust, to see a faint green glow). I'm trying to pick my battles.

You'd have to be in a pretty big hurry to confuse them with chanterelles, but to a neophyte, it can happen easily (see link, further down). But these always grow in tight clusters, and they have true gills, and they don't have that nice sweet aroma like chanterelles (fruity, like apricots), they have a silky fibrousness to the cap surface, and they're always on wood, even if you can't see it because it's the leftover underground root of a dead, long-gone tree...just don't try to talk yourself into the ID, take your time, and maybe you won't poison yourself. Or don't start collecting and eating mushrooms until you've got somebody with some experience to hold your hand. I've been at this with a vengeance for a year now, and I'm seeing all the bonehead beginner ID mistakes I made earlier, let alone recently. So my fear has actually increased with time, as far as collecting edible mushrooms. I don't know if I'll ever move past the few I currently have on my "I ate these" list. Too scared!

But, never mind all that, just look at them! They're COOL! Whether you know their name or not!

What’s so great about chanterelles

That’s a comment, not a question.

This lacy, ruffly, scalloped, swooping Baroque sculpture is the beautiful underside of a chanterelle. When I turned it over and saw this I heard music and faeries appeared.

Then I ate it

Let the Games Begin! The Chanterelles are HERE!

Let the Games Begin!, originally uploaded by Mycologista.

The chanterelles are out!

I was on my way to checking The Field of Chanterelle Joy and found them just all over the woods, right on the little paths. Nobody home yet in The Field, though.

Curious I am to see what will happen in the field, which last September was covered with hundreds of them for a good few months. Also, it's hardly a "field"--it's covered with some plant I haven't ID'd yet, and lots of damn honeysuckle, and trees.

I cleaned and sauteed the whole lot of them, ate a LOT of them in scrambled eggs, and there's plenty left (until TOMORROW, anyway, when I'm going for another hike), and my house smells like chanterelles, which is great.

Coral Mushroom--Ramaria

A beautiful coral mushroom, about 6" tall. It's a Ramaria, but since I posted this over 10 years ago I've learned it's not so easy to ID Ramaria to species without microscopy.