Tuesday, September 29, 2009

A Fungus Among Us


It seems I have been issued a challenge! Last Thursday WiseAcre commented on Rainfield's blog, basically saying that since it's a good time of year for this, I should go off the path and examine rotting wood for fungi, like they both do. I want you to visit both of their wonderful blogs! You can find the comment and Rainfield's agreeing answer in Rainfield's very interesting post right here: Cheers

Now actually, I have been purposely staying away from fungus photos, because I don't know much about them, and because I kind of considered this to be their territory. They both know a great deal of these things and I considered anything I could do to be a pale imitation of theirs, but how can I pass up a challenge such as this? So, this challenge is accepted!

Once I decided to do this I knew I was going to have to come up with something good so I wouldn't disappoint either of them. Any old mushroom just wouldn't do. I had to find something fun and different, and I was going to have to do it all right. I think I did just that.


I've seen plenty of mushrooms without going far off my hiking trails, and I didn't have to go very far to find this one either. The log in this picture was most likely cut by park officials because the tree had fallen across the path. Then the log was moved away from the trail a short distance. Nothing is ever completely removed from these parks.

There's an old remnant of what once was a fence post at the bottom of the photo, giving us all a clue to what this land had once been used for. The landscape was obviously very different here at one time, but that must have been a very long time ago. Maybe almost a century. But that's not what we're here for. It's this strange mushroom!

I couldn't do a post about a fungus without at least trying to find out what it was, now could I? Well I'm not exactly sure I found its exact identity, but I do know that I have come very close, and I can give you the information to decide for yourself. First of all, I can reasonably tell you that I believe this mushroom belongs to the genus Hericium. Now let's dig down for some more detailed information.

 
Hericium are easily identifiable by their drooping spines, that hang down much like icicles. I thought they looked like icicles the very first time I saw them. These mushrooms don't have caps like a lot of other mushrooms. There are many species of hericium, and their spines either hang from groups or from one large clump. The kind I have here look to be the kind that form in groups.

There are four species of hericium in North America. The immature hericium starts out as one unbranched structure. With the exception of one of the four, not this one, as it matures it will form the clumps like you see here, and it will begin to darken somewhat at the top. The black spots you see on this one also appear to be part of the mushroom. I thought it was debris at first.

I am guessing that this particular mushroom species is Hericium Americanum. There has been some odd name switching between a few of these species, but this is the current name. If any of you fungus lovers want to check for yourselves then here's a handy link, so after your own examination you can come back and tell me how wrong I am. I honestly would appreciate it. The link has all of the cool technical information any mushroom geek would love.

 
I decided that you might want a closeup look at this mushroom. I didn't use my new macro lense on it yet, but you still get a good idea of what it looks like. There's just something about mushrooms that makes me not want to touch them. Maybe it's because they are a fungus and they obviously look like it. Whatever it is, I only look. Very beautiful, but... Yuck!

Finally, this has been a long article and I think I'm about finished. I'm sure I left out some information on this mushroom, but I also gave you so much. There's also that link to check out if you're still hungry for mushrooms. I wouldn't eat them though. I hope this adequately satisfies that challenge. Thanks guys!

24 comments:

  1. very interesting ratty! i think you have completed this challenge wonderfully. the photos are amazing and the information is very good. have a wonderful day...hugz!

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  2. This fungus looks like icicle, indeed! It's such an interesting thing to see..What wonderful discover, Ratty..

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  3. Those were such cool photos! We have tons of fungi in the woods and I've been photographing them but they never, ever turn out looking like that. Wow, like a strange kind of icicle. Really beautiful.

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  4. Those pictures are wonderful! At first, I thought that first photo was ice hanging from a mountain side. Great job :)

    Jen

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  5. You have the mushrooms of a different world. I have not seen these before. Their drooping spines are so interesting.

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  6. I think you did a great job and the photos were very interesting, thanks for the info since I know absolutely nothing about mushrooms.

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  7. I love to eat mushrooms...is this an edible one???

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  8. I took some great photos of fungus just yesterday and check this out. It was being consumed by some tiny little invert maggot-types...Eww and aahh all at the same time. Detrivorous detrivores

    oh, and re: National Parks
    You may have visited one or more and not know it. I was browsing the NPS map and discovered 2 of the places I had been were NPS - I just didn't know it at the time. And one place I though was a national park was actually a national forest. I get them confused sometimes.

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  9. Who knew fungus could be so pretty. Love your shots especially the close-up.

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  10. An interesting fungus, I haven't seen anything like it before. I'd be interested to see some of the other mushrooms / toadstools you find.

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  11. What a curious looking Fungus Ratty. Never have seen any like that. I used to like to walk up near my grandparents old property and search for puffballs years ago. Have seen lots of tree mushrooms but never knew any of their names.

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  12. What a cool fungus! I've never seen anything like it before. Great shot!

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  13. Really cool. prettiest fungus I ever saw. I love your pics.

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  14. Your photos are fantastic as well as the information you gave. I don't know a thing about mushrooms other than I like them sauteed in butter...lol

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  15. Very cool and very interesting!! but you are always a joy Ratty!!

    Hugs!!:-)

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  16. That is so beautiful and I hate mushrooms.

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  17. Your first attempt at mushroom pictures is a GRAND SLAM!!! Nicely done RATTY! I love this. My favorite subject after plant sytematics was mycology, ie fungus. Great stuff today.

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  18. Nice find, they're not rare but they aren't a common find either.

    I'd guess you got the ID correct on this toothed mushroom since it looks 'branched'.

    But it does look a lot like Hericium erinaceus.

    So much for identifying mushrooms with any real sense of certainty. My list of unidentified shrooms is far larger then my identified ones :)

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  19. Mind blowing mushroom. Its the first time I saw a mushroom in this shape. A rare find indeed Ratty! I like your detailed explanation about this.

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  20. Very cool fungus, it does look like groups of little icicles. Great photos.

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  21. Very cool fungi! I love it..don't worry, I don't tell anyone about what kind of tree mushrooms I find because I find a LOT. ha...they are all so neat in texture, shape and colors.

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  22. I thought it was an icicle too. How strange.

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  23. Well here I am, behind on answering your wonderful comments again. They caught up to me pretty fast this time. I've read each one though. I'll try to catch up by answering the questions. Thanks for all of your comments!

    Allotments4you.com - According to Wikipedia the hericium mushrooms are very edible and safe, at least the American varieties are. I personally wouldn't go near them.
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    John - I'll try to feature more mushrooms if I can. I want to make sure they are interesting enough for me to write a good story though.
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    WiseAcre - I won't be trying to identify very many mushrooms. These have a distinctive look so I was able to narrow it down. And I agree that it looks a lot like an Erinaceus.

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