100 Species #95: Golden bolete mold

These boletes, infected with what is probably Hypomyces chrysospermus were growing at the base of one of the eastern white pines in my yard.

Hypomyces chrysospermus is a fungus that feeds on other fungi. It has a preference for bolete mushrooms--those with porous undersides rather than gills--first attacking the spore-bearing surface with a white mold. After the mold has consumed the mushroom, its tissue turns bright yellow, the color of its own spore-producing cells.

A related mold, H. lactifluorum attacks Russula and Lactarius mushrooms, turning them into the sought-after edible called "lobster mushrooms." Boletes parasitized by golden bolete mold are not considered edible.

100 Species #96: Porodisculus pendulus

This collection of Porodisculus pendulus fruiting bodies is coming out of a Norway maple sapling that I cut down in the spring of this year.

"Polypore" is a term used for mushrooms that grow out of wood, and emit spores from pores on their underside. Most are tough and leathery or corky in texture, and many are medium to large mushrooms. Porodisculus pendulus is tiny; each mushroom is 2-8 mm in diameter. The scientific name translates to "little tiny pored disc that hangs down," which is as accurate a description as any creature can hope for. My field guides say that it prefers to grow on oak, but other sources say that it grows on any recently dead hardwood.

3:00 snapshot #835

Two dogs playing with the same small stick.


Also, these honey mushrooms were accidentally kicked up from next to the shed. Some more have come up there, and a bunch others are going to be covered with snow in a few hours. This mushroom comes from a fungus that parasitizes the roots of trees. In this case, the roots in question belong to trees that are no longer there. I like to think that they are the roots of the fruit trees that the original owners of the land planted back at the turn of the century. Maybe that's why the trees are gone?