Multicolor Gill Polypore

Posted on November 22, 2023 by tspuckler

While looking for reptiles and amphibians in the woods in southern Illinois, I noticed this bracket fungus on a tree stump.

Multicolor Gill Polypore is widespread across Europe, Asia, and North and South America. In the United States it is very common from the East Coast to the Great Lakes states, south to Texas, and on the West Coast.

From the top, it looks very much like Turkeytail Mushroom, but by viewing the underside of the cap, there are gills instead of pores.

The “gills” of the multicolor gill polypore are actually radially arranged tubes that are forked and fused, which can make them look like gills. These tubes are tough and leathery, as opposed to true gills, which are more fragile.

This species exists as a network of fungal cells (mycelium) within rotting wood. The mycelium obtains nourishment by digesting the wood. When ready to reproduce, it develops the brackets outside of the wood, which are reproductive structures.

Multicolor Gill Polypore plays an important role in the ecosystem, breaking down dead wood and returning nutrients to the soil. This species also helps to recycle carbon and nitrogen, aiding in the growth of new plants and trees.

Mushrooms decorate nature the way wildflowers do, adding to our pleasure on hikes. Many mushrooms are most prominent in the fall, when wildflowers are winding down.

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Scarlet Cup

Posted on January 27, 2023 by tspuckler

While hiking in Hinckley Reservation, a bit of red on the forest floor caught my eye. This fungus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere and has been found in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America and Australia.

Scarlet Cup grows on decaying sticks and branches in damp spots in wooded areas, generally buried under leaf litter or in the soil. The cup-shaped fruiting bodies are usually produced during the cooler months of Winter and early Spring.

The brilliant red interior of the cups (from which both the common and scientific names are derived) contrasts with their lighter-colored exterior. The edibility of this fungus is well established, but its small size, tough texture and insubstantial fruitings dissuade most people from collecting it.

Known scientifically as Sarcoscypha coccinea, the specific epithet coccinea is derived from the Latin word meaning “deep red.” The species is commonly known as Scarlet Elf Cup, Scarlet Elf Cap, or Scarlet Cup Fungus. Its cup-shaped fruit measures one to two inches across.

Fungi belong to their own kingdom and get their nutrients and energy from organic matter, rather than photosynthesis like plants. It is often just the fruiting bodies or “mushrooms,” that are visible to us, arising from an unseen network of tiny filaments called “hyphae.”

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Fairy Inkcap

Posted on October 7, 2022 by tspuckler

While looking for snakes in southern Illinois, I noticed a large number of tiny mushrooms at the base of a tree. This species derives its nutrients from decaying wood and is usually found on or near dead tree stumps or decaying logs.

These gregarious little fungi occur from early spring until the onset of winter, and they are at their most spectacular when the caps are young and pale – sometimes nearly pure white.

Common in Britain and Ireland and throughout Europe and North America, the Fairy Inkcap is truly a cosmopolitan mushroom, being found also in most parts of Asia and in South America and Australia.

For most types of inkcap mushroom, the gills and caps melt into an inky black ooze – which is what gives the inkcaps their common name. Though this is not a feature of the Fairy Inkcap.

Rather than melt into mush, the caps of the Fairy Inkcap remain brittle, and easily teared, hence their alternate common name of Trooping Crumble Cap.

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Witches’ Butter

Posted on November 26, 2021 by tspuckler

While walking along the edge of a cypress swamp in southern Illinois last month, some small, yellow, irregularly lobed, gelatinous masses caught my eye.

Witches’ Butter has fruiting bodies that are brain-like, sulfur yellow-to-pale yellow and have a gelatinous texture. It grows in masses on dead deciduous wood, especially oaks.

This fungi’s full-time job is to inhabit dead wood as a parasite that gets nourishment by digesting the tissues of an unrelated fungus (a crust-like fungus that is itself parasitizing and maybe killing the tree). Witches’ Butter is therefore a parasite of a parasite!

Witches’ Butter has a cosmopolitan distribution, having been recorded from Europe, North, Central, and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Its fruit bodies are formed during wet periods throughout the year.

A type of Jelly Fungi, the investigation of the medicinal benefits of Jelly Fungi has revealed that they stimulate the immune system, reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol and are useful in the treatment of allergies and diabetes.

This fungus is also known as Yellow Brain, Golden Jelly Fungus and Yellow Trembler.

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Chanterelle

Posted on September 10, 2021 by tspuckler

While hiking at Hinckley Reservation, these eye-catching fungi attracted my attention. Their yellow-orange vase-shaped caps were hard to miss on the dark forest floor.

This is among the most popularly eaten species of wild mushrooms. There are many species of edible Chanterelle; the most well known is the Golden Chanterelle Mushroom.

They are often bright in color and funnel-shaped. On the underside, most species have gill-like ridges that run almost all the way down to their stem.

Chanterelles tend to grow in clusters in mossy coniferous forests. In addition to North America, they can be found in Eurasia and Africa.

They are mycorrhizal, which means they have a beneficial, symbiotic relationship with the roots of trees. In Ohio they tend to fruit anywhere from June to September.

The flavor of Chanterelles is often described as fruity or peppery. They’re excellent with meats, fish, or as an entrée topping. They’re also very popular with eggs or as a filling in crêpes.

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Hare’s Foot Inkcap

Posted on January 8, 2021 by tspuckler

Since the rain has started last week, our rock garden has filled with inkcaps. The small, umbrella-shaped fruit bodies (mushrooms) of the fungus grow in grass or woodchips and are short-lived, usually collapsing in a few hours.

This is an inkcap of woodland habitats, where it grows among twigs and leaf litter. Outside of its “natural habitat,” in parks and gardens, this little mushroom is common in flowerbeds covered in woodchip mulch.

Coprinopsis lagopus gets its common English name from the way the young “fur-like” fruiting body begins to come out of the ground before turning into a traditional-looking mushroom. this inkcap has a worldwide distribution, occurring on every continent except Greenland and Antarctica.

The slender, whitish stems are up to 5 inches long and very thin. When the fruit bodies are young and fresh, the caps are reddish brown and can glisten – especially if wet. As the mushroom matures, the outer edge of the cap turn a greyish color while the center remains reddish brown.

This is known as a saprobic species, meaning that it obtains nutrients by breaking down organic matter into simpler molecules. The cool shapes and intricate patterns of this fine, fragile fungus make it a welcome sight on a January day.

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Ganoderma sessile

Posted on May 1, 2020 by tspuckler

This cool looking bowl-shaped mushroom growing in my sister’s front yard is kind of neat. It sprouted out of a buried, decaying tree stump and has been coming up every year.

Although I can’t say I’ve ever seen an example of this mushroom previously, it is reportedly common and found in practically every state East of the Rocky Mountains. Its mature fruiting bodies are shiny and reddish-brown.

Ganoderma sessile has a bright, white, outer edge while growing. This organism is a polypores – part of a group of fungi that form fruiting bodies with pores or tubes on their underside.

This genus of mushroom has long been used in traditional medicine and practitioners of Chinese medicine refer to it as the “king of herbs.”

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Shaggy Mane

Posted on December 21, 2019 by tspuckler

I saw this fungi while visiting Hinckley Reservation, also occasionally known as the Lawyers Wig, this is a distinctive and simple to recognize mushroom. It’s size, texture and shape make it easy to spot even from considerable distance. They are often seen growing on lawns, along gravel roads and waste areas in Summer and Fall. They may grow singly or scattered, but are often in large, tightly packed groups.

Shaggy Mane has an elongated, bullet-shaped, shaggy cap, with brownish upturned scales and a straight fairly smooth stem. The white caps are covered with frilled scales, creating the origin of the common name of this fungus.

This mushroom is known for its unique robust flavor. Shaggy Manes can also be used for dyeing wool, some types of fabric, or paper and will yield a bayberry color when cooked in an iron pot.

Mushrooms and other fungi are one of the most important groups of organisms on the planet. This is easy to overlook, given that most of the organism is largely hidden. The fruiting body (mushroom) is all you see of a vast network of thread-like structures hidden from view deep the soil, wood or other food sources.

Fungi, together with bacteria, are responsible for most of the recycling that returns dead material to the soil in a form in which it can be reused. Unlike animals, that digest food inside their bodies, fungi digest food outside of their “bodies” and then absorb the nutrients into their cells.

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Reindeer Lichen

Posted on September 7, 2019 by tspuckler

Although I’ve encountered this lichen occasionally on my travels, while visiting Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary in Maryland, I saw quite a bit of it.

Lichens are “dual organisms,” made by mutualistic associations between fungi and algae. They grow in some inhospitable environments – on rocks, trees and man-made objects – yet they are very sensitive to air pollution and are natural indicators of air quality.

These organisms are important to the environment because they break down rocks into soil and they help to stabilize soil that’s already there. There are several different species known as “Reindeer Lichen” and this is Grey Reindeer Lichen, which is also known as True Reindeer Lichen.

It features hollow intricate branches coming out its main stem. The branches have a dull, cotton-like look and feel. Grey Reindeer Lichen can form extensive carpets over the ground in open pine forests, especially on sandy soils and in open areas.

This organism has a range extending into the tundra and is a important food source for Caribou. Reindeer Lichens grow slowly and mature clumps are often around 100 years old.

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Morel Mushroom

Posted on July 20, 2019 by tspuckler

Morels are one of the most desired wild mushrooms in the world. They are not farmed like most grocery store mushrooms, but instead gathered in the wild.

Their most identifiable characteristic is what’s typically described as a honeycomb-like exterior. I saw a few of these distinctive fungi recently while in Carter County, Kentucky.

Despite their popularity as a food item, relatively little is known about this particular fungal complex or its lifestyle in the wild. What we call mushrooms are actually just the fruiting body of the organism.

Most of a mushroom is threadlike like fine roots, and branches and burrows extensively through the soil or wood in a manner similar to the roots of plants.

The roots (called a mycelium) spread underground for an indeterminate length of time – perhaps months or even several years – before they store enough food to produce a fruiting body – the actual mushroom.

In the United States Morel Mushroom season generally lasts for about three weeks in April, which adds to the craze for mushroom hunters, as this delicacy can only be obtained for a limited time.

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Category Archives: Fungi

Multicolor Gill Polypore

Scarlet Cup

Fairy Inkcap

Witches’ Butter

Chanterelle

Hare’s Foot Inkcap

Ganoderma sessile

Shaggy Mane

Reindeer Lichen

Morel Mushroom