[Tamia]

tamia - that is one ugly looking fungus, that's for sure. Well captured.

Thanks, Eccs19.

...Each were only a few millimetres across; They look quite like jelly ear fungi, but with eyelashes added!

Excellent capture of the false-eyelash cup!

...Tamia - another strange looking one. You seem to know your fungus very well. You can be our resident expert.

Nah! I've just got a good set of fungi guidebooks, and a husband who studied mycology.

...Tamia - Yours is a fairly common fungus that grows on dead wood, I'll have to look it up. Later on in life it gets pretty big and usually fan shaped, but can develop some odd shapes. Basically if it's what I think it is, it's edible but too tough to fool with.

Thanks Pete. I never saw one like it before or since. Haven't IDed it in the books yet, either. I don't eat the 'shrooms. Too skittish about that.

Here's a tiny one which I shot on a log riddled with insect tunnels. Snow was falling and yet these little Yellow Fairy Cups were vivid for days afterwards. I wish I'd gotten a better picture. The larger individual fruiting bodies are only a few mm wide, if that.

[Paleo Pete]

Tamia - I think I might have found your earlier one, but not positive. It looks like a Polypore called Ganoderma Tsugae. The cap ( the whitish end) should later on turn dark red, fan shaped and look shellacked, edibility unknown, tough and woody.

That's as far as I've gotten, with over 500 in the book and some you have to look at under aa microscope to definitely ID, it's a tedious process. I got a couple of pictures today but not uploaded yet, one is a very good edible, Agaricus Campestris, the Meadow Mushroom, and is almost identical to Agaricus Bisporus, the one for sale in grocery stores. The other I think is Clorophyllum Molybites, poisonous and very common in yards. I'm not ositive on that ID though, didn't think to check for Chlorophyll smell...

Wait a minute, I did upload that one, brb...

Here it is, it dried out a bit and split when it grew more the next night. Usually they don't split like this.



Click on the image to view larger size.

[Tamia]

Thanks for the ID of Ganoderma tsugae, Pete. I think you hit it. Here's what my Audubon guide says about it:

When first forming in May and early June, this polypore resembles a protruding knob on hemlock trees and stumps.

I shot the photo in early June (northern Adirondack Mtns) and it was growing on a downed hemlock tree.

Here's a comb tooth, Hericium coralloides, I found when hiking in the rainy woods two days ago:



Click on the picture to open an enlargement. There were lots of clusters of these growing on beeches which had been cut last fall. This was one of the larger specimens, about 12" wide.

[sealonsf]

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[eccs19]

Tamia - It's a shame that shot of the small yellow ones wasn't sharper. Those little yellow things look like they would have looked nice.
Paleo Pete - That's a ratty looking mushroom. I expect that's it's natural look, and not just beat up?
Tamia - This one more than makes up for your small yellow ones. I think that's the coolest looking fungus in this thread so far. Excellent!
sealonsf - That mushroom looks like something you'd expect to see Smurfs living in. Nicely captured!

[Paleo Pete]

eccs19 - Yep, that's its natural appearance, except for the black crud on top, it's right beside my uncle's burn barrel and the dirt has a lot of black soot on it. They usually have some dirt on top. Otherwise, that's the way it always looks - shaggy. I'm not sure I got the ID right, and haven't had a chance to take a closer look through my book yet. It's also not normally split like that, this one got dry during the day then split when it grew more that night. Usually they form a uniform round cap. Mushrooms are cool weather critters, so they grow most at night. The only one that requires sunlight to grow is Psilocybe Cubensis, my favorite electric mushroom many moons ago. All others can and do grow in the dark, all they need is a bit of moisture and a suitably fertilized spot. They usually don't grow much during the day after it warms up. Many also depend on specific trees, like the Amanita Virosa Tamia posted, (extremely poisonous) is found under hardwoods or mixed woods, other Amanitas are only found among coniferous trees. Others grow only among Beeches, or in manure etc.

Tamia - That's a nice shot of the Comb Tooth, I wish I could find some of those. They're edible and considered very good. My book says found on hardwoods and conifers. I've never seen any down south, like many good mushrooms, they apparently grow in a cooler climate than we have here. I had to look it up by the scientific name, the book doesn't give a common name for it. What I would really like to find is some Morels, but again, only up north...we may have some Chanthrelles here, but most are pretty difficult to get positive ID.

I have a couple more, but not uploaded to Flickr yet, I have to clean up some space before I can post them. found some growing on wood yesterday, and a couple of others in the yard. Fall is on the way, they should be appearing more often very soon.

WARNING

I think a word of caution is in order here. Some mushrooms are extremely poisonous. The Amanita Virosa posted earlier is one of them. Be extremely careful if you handle any mushroom you cannot identify. If you happen to handle Amanita Virosa and do not wash your hands, you can become very ill and possibly die just by chewing your fingernails...Yes, some are that poisonous, and A. Virosa is one of them. That's why its common name is Death Angel or Destroying Angel...A bite smaller than a dime is deadly. Ditto for several of the Amanitas. One is also called the Death Cap (Amanita Phalloides).

[photolady95]

Tamia, I really like that Comb Tooth. I, like Pete, are too far south to see that one.

We haven't had any significant rain here lately so no mushrooms or toadstools.

Pete, in your warning statement, I am sure you meant "wash your hands" not what you said.

do not wash your hands, you can become very ill and possibly die just by chewing your fingernails.

[eccs19]

Pete, that is some EXCELLENT information you've posted. Thanks a lot. I always knew that some mushrooms were deadly poisonous, and it's good to remind people of the dangers of some of these mushrooms.

[eccs19]

Another one from a couple of years ago.

[jheu02]

In our back yard growing near a rotting stump.

[eccs19]

jheu02 - That is another fungus I've never seen before. That is definitely a cool looking one.

It continues to amaze me how many different types of fungus there really is.

[Nowhere Matt]

[eccs19]

Nowhere Matt - Nice to see that hand in the first one. Give you a good idea how big it is. Looks like a nice size. What lens did you use for that second one? The Bokeh is odd looking in that shot.

[Nowhere Matt]

It is a Lenmar RX-7 85-210mm f4.5 and macro of 1:3. That quality in what is out of focus is one of the few reasons the lens remains with me for the moment.

[agsy]

Nice lil fungus there Spongefingers. Good find.