The Urban Pantheist

I took a walk with Charlie yesterday in the Stony Brook Reservation. With my camera out of commission I've been using my phone to take pictures. I got a self-timer app to take photos like this. Since it was overcast and raining with very low light conditions, most of my pictures are terrible.

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This Sunday we went to Hammond Pond Reservation not on a rainy day, but instead on one of the most beautiful New England days possible. ( Read more... )</>

Urban species #027: False Turkey Tail.* Stereum hirsutum

Stereum hirsutum is a wood-decomposing fungus that produces orange stalkless mushrooms that emerge directly from the bark of the host tree. When they appear, it's a warning that the tree, or the infected part, is going to fall. It's a very common fungus that can be found anywhere where trees are dying. "True" turkey tail fungus Trametes versicolor, has a similar appearance, but unlike Stereum, is not orange, and doesn't grow as readily during winter.

* The common name "false turkey tail" is more often used when referring to a closely related species Stereum ostrea. The two species are very similar, and can both be mistaken for turkey tail fungus, but S. hirsutum is the only one I have found in the city, and seems to be more common in general, at least in my region.

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