Nature Journal
a gallery of Edible Mushrooms — these are "lobsters," Hypomyces lactifluorum
Lobsters are mycoparasites — mushrooms that parasitize other mushrooms. They actually change the DNA of the other fruiting body, which changes its shape, causes it to release lobster spores, and also makes the mushrooms edible.
Honey mushrooms (Armillaria sp.) are super common in the fall — they attack the roots of dead and living trees.
we don't eat them often bc they have the same chemical that makes okra slimy. they're pretty, though
"aborted entoloma" — Entoloma abortiva. whenver they grow near honey mushrooms, most of the fruiting bodies turn into these lumpy little dumpling things.
but in both these spots, at least one of the entolomas grew normally. often called "shrimp of the woods," both the lumps and mushrooms are edible.
a Hericium species — know as either lion's mane, monkey paw, or bear tooth head. mushroom common names are great.
two different species of hericium
more (and bigger) hericium! They make excellent crab cakes.
giant puffball — Calvatia gigantea. someone recently found one nearly 8 feet across.
a "pestle" puffball — Handkea excipuliformis
Hen of the Woods / Maitake / Grifola frondosa
ten points for Grifola frondosa! (a Harry Potter joke...)
we left this hen for the squirrel
not a hen! — Berkeley's polypore / Bondarzewia berkeleyi
black-staining polypore — Meripilus sumstinei. also not a hen
white-pored chicken of the woods — Laetiporus cincinnatus (the tastier of the two common chickens)
a baby Laetiporus cincinnatus
Laetiporus sulphureus, aka sulfur shelf, aka yellow-pored chicken of the woods
smooth chanterelles — Cantharellus lateritius
more smooths
a rather funky Cantherellus sp.
Cantharellus cinnabarinus — cinnabar chants
a Craterellus species of chanterelle — probably yellow-foot
Craterellus fallax — black trumpets
more trumpets — ain't they pretty?
ischnoderma resinosum — steak of the woods? common in late fall around NYC. took some home twice but haven't managed to cook it yet.
more steak
quilted green russala / green brittle gill / Russula parvovirescens
classic hedgehog
shaggy hedgehogs
Blewits — clitocybe nuda.
dang, ya'll, we blewit. Clitocybe nuda again.
summer oysters — Pleurotus pulmonarius
indigo milkcap — Lactarius indigo
indigo again
beefsteak mushroom — Fistulina hepatica. I call this specific one tongue of the woods.
cross-section of a beefsteak — they get the name in part because of the way they look like meat, and partially because they "bleed" a red liquid when bruised. one of the few wild mushrooms you can eat raw
Winter oysters — pleurotus ostreatus
more winta oystas
enoki dokie! this flamulina velutipes actually fruits off a stump in our backyard
more enoki, from beneath
painted suillus — Suillus spraguei. edible, but prettier to look at than to eat.
chestnut boletes
I don't usually *f* around with the genus Amanita (they're responsible for something like 90% of mushroom-related fatalities ), but the Amanita jacksonii is pretty easy to I.d.
a bolete. danged if I know which one for sure
old man of the woods — Strobilomyces sp. A fine edible, though usually we leave them where they are. They're among my favorites to photograph.
always such loners
just some of our favorite hauls — this was our first outing, in Oregon, led by Sara's uncle (may we all one day have our own secret chanterelle spot)
and then we set out on our own
winter's still good for foraging!
this was a good day
Gallery of Random Pretty Mushrooms — some are edible, at least one is deadly, and one will get you high......
wood ear
honey mushroom feast!
huh?
club coral
mushroom with a hat
these are the deadly ones
couldn't positively i.d., but check out the gills in the next shot —>
birch polypore
inky caps
violet cort
I may have kept the rest of this chant for my own feast — sorry, slug!
jelly babies!
gobble gobble (turkey tails)
stumped
baby chants
"elegant" stinkhorn, also known as the devil's lipstick
jack o'lanterns. often mistaken by new foragers for chanterelles because of their color. these are supposed to glow in the dark but we've never seen it (and we've tried)
mica fairy castle
pholiota aurivella
sulfur tufts
brick caps
mazegill
technically a polypore, believe it or not
birdsnest
these are the ones that get you high
just a fun friend I found in Yosemite
Amanita sp — probably a "blusher"
another, older potential blusher
peakin out!
milkcaps
dunno
no mushroom gallery is complete without Amanita muscaria
it's called "fly agaric" because we used to dry and powder these mushrooms, then sprinkle them in milk to keep flies away
Piedmont bolete — Caloboletus firmus. cap was nearly 8 inches across. too bitter to eat
Amanita sp
purple bitter bolete
probably a birch bolete?
this is the same as the mushroom in the next pic —>
the fact that it stains blue like that points to it probably being poisonous (the mark on the stem is just from my thumb print)
more aborted entoloma
entolomas again
Animal Gallery
Tahoe bear sighting. don't see it yet?
how about now?
scampering the other way, thank goodness
this handsome little guy had been stepped on, elsewise I wouldn't have gotten so close.
just hanging around our back steps in Richmond
Macro & Patterns Gallery
i stan a stamen shadow
common buttonbush
artichoke flower
wood sorrel — salad topper growing in our backyard
birch trees reflected in a tulip poplar leaf
an oak gall — these are somehow made by wasps
tiny myca caps in birch bark
one week's harvest from our three tomato plants
self-propagating tomatoes
sycamore bark
Landscapes (Nicaragua)
Guatemala
Bixby Canyon Bridge
Monterey
Pinnacles NP
Angkor Wat
Big Sur
Taj Mahal
Yosemite 2012
upstate NY
somewhere near Lake Mono
Lake Mono
Yosemite
north Vietnam
somewhere east of Panama
Vietnam
Morningside Heights
Zion NP
Point Reyes
Point Reyes
Arches NP
Delicate Arch
Big Sur
Canyonlands NP
Mesa Verde
Los Angeles
Cambodia
Death Valley
Kentucky
Illinoise
west Kansas, or maybe southeast Colorado
Colorado
just outside Granby, CO — the brightness to the left is a forest fire
wyoming
Tetons
Jenny Lake in Teton NP
Star Valley Ranch, WY
Idaho
Ochoco Pass, Oregon
Oregon coast
Cuyahoga Valley NP
El Yunque NF
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Priorat