What is up team? I've got a bunch of mushroom pics from this past Spring/Summer that I don't have much to do with besides share. I'm going to try and email one out every Monday. I'll start with mushrooms I found in the park and then work to mushrooms I've seen outside the park. I'll do my best with identification; sourcing from iNaturalist, the Audubon field guide above Eric's desk, and the internet. Let me know if you think I misidentified a mushroom.
I recently read Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake which sparked within me a deep curiosity and appreciation of fungi. I leant the book to Eric but if you want to read it after him just let me know. It contains a lot of fascinating information about the forgotten taxonomic kingdom that are fungi. I'm kicking this inaugural Mushroom Monday off with a three piece of shrooms all found in the park:
1) Fairy Inkcap or Trooping Crumble Cap, Coprinellus disseminatus, found on the bankrock woodchip path on 8/17/2020. They were only there for a day, but I saw them fruiting in several places in the ramble. Unlike most other coprinoid (inkycap) mushrooms this one does not dissolve into a black ink at maturity.
2) Violet-toothed Polypore, Trichaptum biforme, found on the bankrock woodchip trail on 8/17/2020. It looks similar to turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) but the purple outer ring helps for identification. Turkey tail has a white outer margin.
3) Hen of the Woods, Grifola frondosa, found at the base of an oak north of mugger's woods on 10/1/2020. I've seen a few in other spots in the ramble as well, all at the base of oaks. In Japan it is known as Maitake. It's a perennial fungus that grows in the same place for several years in a row. It's also edible, if you're so inclined. It is not in the same genus as chicken of the woods (laetiporus) even though the common names are similar.
Let's keep our eyes peeled after these rains and see if we have any new guests in the park later this week.
Best,
Aubrey