Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Fungi in the woods

On my walk through the woods I described in yesterday's post, I encountered several interesting fungi, and got decent pictures of a few of them.

At first glance I thought these were Turkey Tail mushrooms, but looking through the Audubon Guide, I think they're more likely the Crowded Parchment fungi.

They were cascading all the way down this old stump in the woods.

The colouring fit perfectly with the fall weather.

These ones were over my head on another tree, and I never did identify them, though I suspect they are one of the Oyster Mushrooms.

And in the farthest corner of the woods I encountered this old friend, the stump of a giant Sugar Maple that split and fell in 3 different directions in the forest.  Artist's Conk bracket fungi have been growing on it for several years now.

Some of them are older and are beginning to deteriorate, but the one on the left here was huge - at least 2 feet across, and 15" deep.

But there are still new ones growing, with the white underneath that I would draw a picture on if I found a large one as a child exploring the woods.

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14 comments:

  1. That is a huge conk. Fungi are so interesting to see.

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  2. The textures and variety of colours interests me about fungi.

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  3. BEautiful, thanks for sharing these.

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  4. Absolutely stunning photos. Especially that first one. I'd love to see one of those. Guess I'd better go walk in the woods. When I was a kid growing up in S.E Alaska we called those ones that you drew on, Bear Bread - and often we would paint pictures on them. I'd like to gather a few more and do some painting once again.

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  5. Really cool captures of the fungi!

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  6. Interesting fungi! I saw a bunch of 'shrooms during my hike on Sunday. Must be the season!

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  7. Always worth keeping an eye open for them at this time of year. These are some splendid examples.

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  8. Whatever they are called, they are gorgeous!!

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  9. Brilliant orange, and the ones on the tree are like steps for climbers, nature gives us something special everywhere. Do they grow all year round or just in Autumn? Jean.

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    1. The first and last ones I showed grow all year round, though the spores are released at one point over the summer. The possible oyster mushrooms I think are shorter 'living', and appear then disappear (though of course the main part of the fungi, that you don't see, lives all year round inside the tree stumps. The mushrooms that appear only in fall are just like the 'flowers', they're the fruiting bodies of the plants.

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  10. I really need to get out and look for fungi, although our woods is really thick and difficult ..so I will have to find another spot.. Great photos for Nature Notes... thank you...Michelle

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  11. Lots of interesting textures and shapes in your photos today. The yellow leaves though - just wow!

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