All dressed up

Here's a pretty one for you. This is Flammulina velutipes, the velvet-foot fungus. The dark coloration of the stem bases, white spore print, and lack of an annulus are helpful diagnostic characters, but this fungus is sometimes confused by amateur collectors with the deadly Galerina autumnalis. The latter has a ring on the stem, with brown spores, while Flammulina has no ring and white spores. Don't eat Galerina--it has the same toxins as the deadly Amanitas, and it can and will kill you if you eat it! Take great care before you collect Flammulina to ensure that you know the difference between these two.

Flammulina is a cold-tolerant fungus that fruits even during cold weather in the Midwest--Tom Volk has captured specimens intact in Wisconsin in February!

As beautiful as this fungus can be in the wild, you may be more familiar with its cultivated form, which looks nothing at all like the wild specimens found in the woods. When you buy this fungus at the grocer's, it is thin, spindly, and completely white with a very small cap. Yes, the image I'm sharing with you is the true form of the feeble and pathetic Enoki mushroom. Enokis are kept in bottles in the dark when grown, and don't get to experience the full glory of becoming a lovely Flammulina. Pity. 

A ubiquitous pathogenic fungus

So far it's been a pretty bleak fall for mushroom photography in the Lake States region. Rainfall has been short across northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and even with the recent rain we've had, the fall fungi just haven't been emerging yet.

This little group of inocuous-looking 4" mushrooms are the sporocarps of a giant among fungi. This is an Armillaria species, most likely A. ostoyae. It is a close relative of the "Humongous Fungus" first identified near Crystal Falls, MI by a Forest Pathologist at Michigan Technical University. Armillaria species are parasites on over 1000 hosts, and the collective species may comprise one of the most ubiquitous genera of any kind in the terrestrial landscape.

Armillaria species are commonly called "honey mushrooms" because of the color of their caps. Most have an "annulus," a ring around the stem that once served as a veil to protect the gills of the fungus as it matured. Most or all of them are edible (standard disclaimer applies, of course), and some people find them very good. They usually fruit prolifically in the fall, especially near dead and declining trees. Yes, there often is a cause-and-effect relationship between the decline and the presence of mushrooms, but Armillaria fruits on decaying wood of trees killed by almost any other agent.

For an interesting look at another aspect of Armillaria biology, check out Tom Volk's fungus of the month for Sept. 2006, the apparently misnamed Entoloma abortivum.

A little trio of Amanita sporocarps. I've keyed this to Amanita velatipes, but I'm not convinced that I'm right. This looks very much like Amanita pantherina, but that particular fungus is not supposed to live in Minnesota, where this image was taken. If anyone out there who comes across this would like to weigh in (particularly if you're an Amanita expert), please do. Oh, if you come across a fungus that looks like this one, I would recommend not eating it. Take its picture and just move along. Even though this might not be one of the most poisonous fungi in the woods, why take any chances? If you can't identify it, and you don't know for certain if it's poisonous, don't eat it.

Violet-toothed polypore

This is an image of Trichaptum biforme, a fungus that grows on hardwoods throughout the U.S. There is a closely related fungus called Trichaptum abietinum that grows on conifers. Distinguishing characteristics include the layer of algae that usually grows on the surface of the caps, and a lilac to violet colored pore layer. Rarely are specimens as photogenic as this one, especially on the top surface. Usually you will encounter this fungus as a rather homely mass of overlapping sporocarps that are dull cream color and covered by a thin layer of algae. Often the violet color is revealed only when you turn the sporocarp over and expose the pore layer. Pores are often daedaloid when the sporocarp is young, becoming poroid or toothed as they age. Unfortunately, the violet color also fades with the age of the sporocarp, but if you happen to see them when they are fresh and new, they often provide an unexpected flash of color in the woods.

Pharyngula blog

P.Z. Myers is the author of the Pharyngula blog. Check it out at: www.pharyngula.com
Myers, a biologist at the University of Wisconsin at Morris, is a stalwart defender of science (and in particular of evolution), and a prolific blogger with lots of interesting things to say. He explains the origin of the word "pharyngula," so I won't.

The eyelash cup fungus

This little beauty is a fungus called Scutellinia scutellata. It's usually found on moist decaying wood, and can be a welcome splash of color in the duff-colored...well...duff.

The common name of this small fungus is the "eyelash cup." It's particularly well-named, as the hairlike growths around the margins of the cups do look a lot like eyelashes. The cups are about 2mm to 1.5 cm in diameter. The orange color results from the presence of carotene in the context of the sporocarp. This is one of the nicest groups of this fungus that I've seen in the woods.