Every reference says green. I say blue. Who are you going to believe?
Them, me or your lying eyes.

Green Stain Fungus – Chlorociboria aeruginascens

This is a tiny stalked mushroom that stains the wood it’s growing in. Field guides state it prefers Oak but I’ve seen it on just about every type of tree (dead and rotting) around here except Cedar and Pine. I’ve been trying for over a year to get a photo of one in profile. Getting a focused photo of the stem always seemed beyond me until the other day. I got lucky and got two.

I wanted the stem shots to help confirm the identity. There are other very close species and this one is supposed to have an off set stem. These look like abstract sculptures to me. I don’t know what might have craved/chewed the holes in them but whatever it was it had to be very small.

I didn’t need any luck finding any of these cup mushrooms, they were all over the place. The rotting logs they were growing on had soaked up plenty of the recent rains giving them the moisture needed to develop the fruiting bodies. Slime molds, particularly yellow fuzz cone slime are out in force too. To get a perspective of the blue stain’s size – the orange balls are about the size of a pin head.

…and now for something not completely different

A Bolete of some sort that’s being eaten. Not all Boletes are edible and I doubt any slug feast is going to make me believe this one is.

A closer look shows just how yummy the whole thing is. It also shows the pore surface and the tubes behind them in the slug eaten hole. (upper left)

Jeeze the last half of this post turned out pretty slimy.

This punked out fly distracted me from the mushrooms I was going to post today. This is the second time I’ve photographed and posted pics of one but this time I just had to make a positive ID. Once again BugGuide.net has come to my rescue. ‘Punk A$$ Fly’ isn’t a proper name no matter how accurate the description is. I would like to introduce you to:

Archytas apicifer

From Wallpaper-1920×1080

At over a half inch these are fairly large flies. Contrary to the punk/goth look the adults are more interested in flowers which they feed upon. It’s their young that are the stuff nightmares are made of. The larvae are parasitoids that develop on moths. So relax and get a good nights sleep, they won’t be sucking out your life juices except in dreams.

It’s a toss up between which post has the better images of the white faced fly. You can see the other photos on: Bad Hair Day.

I also strongly advise scrolling to the bottom and staring into the eyes of the Hypno-Frog until ready to do my bidding.

No? Then just take one more look at Spike and we’ll move along and see what Stewy is up to.

If Stewy could talk

What’s that stupid dog nosing around for now?

Not again. It’s one thing to go barking up the wrong tree but getting stuck up there is another.

Out of the Woods
Stewy is playing ‘catch up’ after Pookey and I left him behind.

More mushrooms for a fungi Friday.
I’m still trying to catch up with my mushroom finds of the last few days. Here are two more.

Bear’s Head Tooth Mushroom – Hericium americanum

Bear’s head? tooth? – I don’t see a bear’s head no matter how big my beer goggles are. Teeth up the wazoo maybe but why the singular? Maybe it’s the size, these mushroom get pretty big. This one was more than a handful and probably weighted over a pound.

A better common name is Lion’s Mane Mushroom – I can see that without getting half in the bag. Still better would be to call it the Icicle mushroom, but I’m the only one so far that uses that name.

They grow on old hardwood stumps and logs and occasionally from wounds in living trees. This one was growing on an old maple log. They are considered choice eating. The flesh is white and firm but don’t ask me how they taste. Like I’ve said countless times before – I do not put fungus in my mouth.

Yummy looking? Don’t forget to cook it before you take a bite.

Now here’s a mushroom that is aptly named. One look and you can see why.

Eyelash Cup Mushroom – Scutellinia scutellata

These are small orange cups with eyelash like hairs on the cup’s edge. They usually grow in groups on dead wood and sometimes on damp ground. Here’s a pic that gives a bit a scale. They’re smaller than Lincoln’s head on a penny.

eyelash cup fungus

Looking closer you can see the eyelashes. No point in a staring contest – they never blink.

I’ve got more photos of mushrooms on the way. Next time I hope to have some Yellow Fairy Cups to go with the Blue Stain I’m planning to put on the screen. Meanwhile I’m back off to the woods. Right now it’s prime time for mushroom hunting in the North Country of NY.