Fungi of Summer/Late Summer

Posted by Cindy on September 19, 2009

Many people think fungi are only around during the wet and warm spring months.  How are these for August and September fungi finds??

Unidentified Polypore

Silky Parchment

Mustard-yellow Polypore

Tapioca Slime

Likely another image of Silky Parchment

Likely some sort of Carbon Mushroom or a Slime Mold

Likely a Jack O'Lantern or False Chantrelle

This area of fruiting body was huge!

I have no idea what this is, but it looked like a mold.

Hairy Parchment

Possibly Carbon Balls or Red Cushion Hypoxylon

Possibly Bear Lentinus

I took these pictures near the edge of a creek on rotting logs and on a walk in the woods.  They were everywhere!  Finding fungi is one of my new nature study passions ever since writing the Fungus Among Us NaturExplorer unit!  Since there are many thousand varieties of fungi, it’s sometimes hard to pinpoint exactly what you find.  But that’s okay, just seeing them is enough for me!

Mushroom Nature Study

Posted by Cindy on May 8, 2009

Spring is such a fun time for studying mushrooms!  It’s been raining a lot around here and a quick trip around the yard led to six different types of mushrooms found in about five minutes time yesterday.

Towards evening, we headed to a spot on the farm where leftover hay has been decomposing.  What treasures we found there!

If you’ve never taken a mushroom walk, now is a great time to do it!  Damp ground, decomposing logs, old leaf piles, and dung piles are great places to look.