Winter mushrooms in the Stony Brook Reservation

[urbpan]

I took Charlie on a rambling walk in the Stony Brook Reservation on Sunday. I tried to find paths that were new to me, and was happy to find some mushrooms! These swampy trees have some reddish-orange polypores on them. I had to get out feet a little damp to get closer. Luckily once I was at the right angle to take this picture, I found the same mushrooms growing out of the tree I was standing next to!



They're probably Reishi mushrooms (Ganoderma tsugae or maybe G. lucidum). If you think this picture looks like a totally different mushroom than the one pictured in the link (in the word Reishi, above), then take a look at this page.


I've developed a real fondness for this one. I wasn't sure if it was a lichen or a mushroom until I got this book which sorted it out. This is Xylobolus frustulatus, a crust fungus that comes late to already-rotten oak logs to take its bit. The crust, which looks a bit like cracked ceramic, is a collection of fruiting bodies that release pinkish-orange spores. The stuff is durable, and can be found in all four seasons in the east of North America. (Apparently it can be found in Texas and Mexico, as well.)




This is definitely a lichen, what species I do not know, but I am sure I have never seen it before. I'm sure it looks different when it's wet, and I bet you can only identify it to species by dripping chemicals on it and noting the color change. I need to get this book, I think.


On another dead log, I found last autumn's puffballs. These are probably Morganella pyriformis, a species which recently was switched out of genus Lycoperdon (literally: "wolf fart") based on the fact that it grows on wood and other attributes, but most field guides will still call it Lycoperdon pyriforme. I took one of these home and puffed the spores on one of my wood piles in the hopes of growing my own puffballs. I'll let you know how that turns out.

Comments

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Thank you!