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urbpan100 species #35 was the cultivated oyster mushroom. I was tempted to profile these wild oysters as a second species, but I'm ahead of schedule, and having a hard time justifying it. Let's just enjoy them!
When Alexis posted her pictures of this group,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
asakiyume noticed how the shape of the mushrooms echoed the shape of the birdbath. I think that's wonderful, too, and in an earlier more superstitious time I bet people would not accept it as coincidence.
The moisture that encouraged these mushrooms (that we are enduring in this photo) was the leading edge of Hurricane Irene. The stump that the mushrooms are growing from was something of a mystery until recently. However my neighbor brought over some pictures of his family and the land from early in the 20th century, and you could see my house and the trees in front. The little tree in front of our house (which must have been quite big by the time it was cut down) was some kind of spruce. Oyster mushrooms are known for growing from hardwood stumps--oaks, maples, that sort of thing, so I was checking to see if these are some kind of unusual spruce oysters. Nope, a little more digging shows that oysters grow out of just about anything--I should know, since I grew them on junk mail--and have been documented growing out of conifer logs, like spruce, as well.
Here they are at the height of their vitality, gills swarming with tiny beetles.
And 34 hours later, the hurricane has passed, and the dusky slugs feast on the water-logged mushrooms!
When Alexis posted her pictures of this group,
asakiyume noticed how the shape of the mushrooms echoed the shape of the birdbath. I think that's wonderful, too, and in an earlier more superstitious time I bet people would not accept it as coincidence.The moisture that encouraged these mushrooms (that we are enduring in this photo) was the leading edge of Hurricane Irene. The stump that the mushrooms are growing from was something of a mystery until recently. However my neighbor brought over some pictures of his family and the land from early in the 20th century, and you could see my house and the trees in front. The little tree in front of our house (which must have been quite big by the time it was cut down) was some kind of spruce. Oyster mushrooms are known for growing from hardwood stumps--oaks, maples, that sort of thing, so I was checking to see if these are some kind of unusual spruce oysters. Nope, a little more digging shows that oysters grow out of just about anything--I should know, since I grew them on junk mail--and have been documented growing out of conifer logs, like spruce, as well.
Here they are at the height of their vitality, gills swarming with tiny beetles.
And 34 hours later, the hurricane has passed, and the dusky slugs feast on the water-logged mushrooms!
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Date: 2011-09-03 05:14 pm (UTC)it's not a coincidence :)
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Date: 2011-09-03 07:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-03 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-03 08:56 pm (UTC)I just finished listening to a taped book by Philip K. Dick called "Galactic Pot Healer" in which an enormous alien being consumes the essences of beings from 20 different planets in order to complete a mission on his/her own planet, and everyone thinks on his/herr own as well as together and comes to consensus. It reminded me of fungi. Who knows whether your mushrooms mimicked the sundial, or were just looking for shade?