urbpan: (dandelion)
urbpan ([personal profile] urbpan) wrote2014-06-20 08:00 pm

Incidental mushrooms

A Big Important Inspection is happening soon, so we're cleaning places that haven't had much attention lately. My volunteer and I raked behind the zoo hospital to get rid of some debris when I came across this wonderful sight!

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This is the biggest bloom of dead man's fingers I've seen in a long while. These are produced by the fungus Xylaria polymorpha. This is the first time I've seen them growing from the stump of this Ailanthus tree.

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In the same area I found this lawn chair, unused by humans for some time, but clearly important to some squirrel. A gray squirrel or perhaps a chipmunk has been perching on the chair opening red oak acorns for months but in the past few days has found a new treasure. The red tubes on this bolete mushroom are an indication that humans should avoid eating it, but the rodent didn't get the memo and took a few bites.