Shroom'n Again...

[Ken Ramos]

Recent and long needed rains have turned my lawn into a mushroom farm. Everywhere I look there are Boletes and Amanita, along with common field mushrooms, Asco's and some fungi that I have often seen but do not know the names of.



Like these for example, they could be Asco's or maybe Corals, I am not sure but this is the first time that I have noticed them in prolific abundance around my home. Cordyceps maybe... This could be the time to be taking notice of any strange insect behavior.



Anyway I am hoping that the rains will continue to come every so many days, the wildflowers are returning also and the fall Asters are quite lovely and attract many insects. This photo and the next one are Amanita I think. There are quite a number of these along with some bright yellow ones, beneath the pine trees. From what I gather Amanita are quite fond of croping up in pine forests or areas having pines.



Last but not least, this is my favorite from this afternoons hurried shooting. It was almost dark and not much light was available and the mosquitoes had me in mind for the evening meal. So this was a really quick "grab shot" before ducking for cover back inside the house. I don't mind donating blood but not to the local mosquitoe population.

[salden]

My yard looks like a mushroom farm as well Ken, but they are not as pretty as the ones you have. I love that last one.

[Ken Ramos]

Wish I could have gotten the highlights on the stem a bit darker but I suppose they are fine as they are. If it is nice tomorrow morning I am hoping for some more down in the woods behind the house. I was a bit hurried today and did not get home until late, being stuck in the lines at the gas station. Almost eerie it was, every one looked so worried.

Thanks Sue

[Harold Gough]

The white one may be a Clavaria species.

Harold

[Ken Ramos]

I believe that you may be right there, Harold. “Clavaria vermicularis,” it seems. Tufts of white unbranched, club shaped fruiting bodies, the tip of which, often dries yellow or tan. Fragile with brittle flesh, the fruiting body is hollow and may flatten with age or so says my Smithsonian guide to the mushrooms.

Thanks Harold

[P_T]

This could be the time to be taking notice of any strange insect behavior.

What do you mean? they get high on these mushroom?

You know, that second and third mushroom looks delicious, I don't supposed they're edible, are they?

[Ken Ramos]

P_T wrote:

What do you mean? they get high on these mushroom?

No not really but they can if "Summit Disease" is the result of consuming the spores. I was assuming that maybe these were Cordyceps fungi there P_T, the spores of which are deadly to insects in that the fungi parasitizes a great many of them. Each species of Cordyceps fungi, of which there are thousands I think, specifically parasitize or attack only one specific species or type of insect. For example one species of Cordyceps may only attack grasshoppers, while another only flies, while yet another only ants, and so on. I have found evidence of the Cordyceps infection in ants, grasshoppers, and katydids in my area. “You Tube” has a great short video on this by simply searching “Cordyceps Infection.”

As for the edibility of the ones I have shown here, none are edible and the Amanita’s are poisonous to my understanding. The Fly Amanita is so called, I think, because people used to crush them in milk and set them on a counter somewhere out of harms way, flies would then alight to drink of the milk and die from poisoning. This is something that I would not recommend with small children around or even some “adults,” for that matter!

[lauriek]

Well the Amanita muscaria, or fly agaric as it's known here is not recommended eating. The Vikings used to make drink from it which made them fearless before going into battle. It's hallucinogenic. And I think you can die if you eat too much of it. I have a feeling it may be the one which can affect perception of size - leading to the Alice thing...

ETA really nice shots Ken, especially the third one!

[Ken Ramos]

There are a number of mushrooms that are reported hallucinogenic, some only require a pin point amount of the toxic substances contained therein, from what I have read, to cause an adverse effect on the consumer. I have not or have never been fond of mushrooms anyway, as far as consuming them goes. I was thinking the other morning, while consuming a big fat and most lovely “Western Omelet,” with hashbrowns, toast, and a big waffle loaded with berries and butter on the side, at a local restaurant, that I could not really taste the mushrooms therein, though I could detect the mushy texture of them. I suppose that I just have not the pallet for fungi.

Thanks laruiek and P-T

Edit: Oh, and coffe too, lots of coffee...

[Harold Gough]

I believe that you may be right there, Harold. “Clavaria vermicularis,” it seems. Tufts of white unbranched, club shaped fruiting bodies, the tip of which, often dries yellow or tan. Fragile with brittle flesh, the fruiting body is hollow and may flatten with age or so says my Smithsonian guide to the mushrooms.

Thanks Harold

That is the species in my Pegler book. However, the European example is apparently longer, more slender and more pointed than your specimen, so I declined to suggest the name.

Philips (revised edition) gives it as a junior synomym of fragilis, which may explain the truncation of parts of yours. The flattening of the stems is found in European examples.

Harold