On this mornings walk with Mattie (my dog) we came across many mushrooms and fungi and these wonderful indian pipes flowering. Watch for them in rich woods between now and September.
This little, possibly an "amanita" mushroom was just beginning to pop up in the trail. I'm not a mushroom expert at all, but I enjoy the shapes and colors. Truthfully, I'm a bit weary of mushrooms, usually the ones that I think are "cute" are the ones described in my mushroom field guide as something like "dangerous hallucinogen, or extremely toxic.
This inch long "Jelly" mushroom was growing out of the side of a rotting log.
The Coral-like fungi are my favorites, this one looks like a crested or bitted. I once saw a strange orange fungi along one of the trails at the Powder Valley nature center in St. Louis that looked like very orange cooked lobster claws sticking out of the ground, that might have been an Armed Stinkhorn. I use the Smitsonian Handbooks Mushroom Guide by Thomas Laessoe and Gary Lincoff. Always something out there in the woods to enjoy!
I'm a little surprised that you found Indian Pipe, it is more of a fall bloomer. However, a relative Pinesap (Monotropa hypopithys) is blooming now. It is the same shape and is also saprophytic, but is red/yellow in color.
ReplyDeleteHi Michael, Hmm, my flower guidebook says that Indian Pipe blooms from June-September. I wonder if you've seen it blooming later than that. I always remember it more in the summer......
ReplyDelete