Predictably unpredictable

[urbpan]

These crackle-top Russulas reliably appear in the same general location each summer, in the area around the zoo hospital. They are the fruiting bodies of a fungus that lives in symbiosis with the red oaks that tower overhead. There are thought to be a number of closely related species that produce crackle-tops--lately I've resorted to calling these subsection Virescentinae, for lack of a definitive species identification.

Interestingly, the keys that guide one toward identifying this mushroom use characteristics that seem to vary, in my experience, from bloom to bloom. These mushrooms, presumably (though not definitely) from the same mycelium, have ranged from gray to green, sometimes with reddish brown tones sometimes not. I'll continue to photograph the crackle-tops that appear in this area, partly to document the diversity and partly because I find them to be a very beautiful creatures.

Comments

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

They're nice. They look sort of like they're made of metal. (I think that's my brain not knowing what they are and trying to class them as something familiar though).

[urb-banal.livejournal.com]

Beautiful!

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

They look like stoneware, like you could eat off of them.