this is my contribution to #FungiFriday by @ewkaw
autumn is a good time for mushrooms here. there's usually plenty of rain but in between those days we get some crisp cool weather. autumn is noticeably darker and on this particular trip it was cloudy so the forest was much darker than in the summer. luckily the leaves hadn't begun to fall in numbers. when that happens it's far more difficult to spot the mushrooms, partly because the color camouflages them and partly because the leaves cover them. these kind of September days are ideal for mushroom foraging because though the light is low there is very little contrast on the forest floor so it is easy on the eyes. it's something that i never thought about in my younger years but my eyes aren't as good as they used to be
Lycoperdon perlatum common puffball. being common often entails being given several popular names, some appropriately descriptive like gem-studded puffball and others more coarse and humorous such as devil's snuffbox. the latin names can be amusingly explicative as well. lyco means wolf and perdon is flatulence. i have never seen a wolf fart but i can just imagine a cloud being passed out their backside much like the ones from these innocent puffballs. despite their folkloric names they are edible when purely white. not so much flavor but when fried in butter they melt in the mouth and can be quite satisfying. no need to worry about exact identification as long as they are uniformly white inside with no sign of any gills.
that first shot was edited to give it an otherworldly appearance. here is the unedited original taken at a relatively fast shutter speed in the low light
it's been a good year for puffballs
Hydnum repandum hedgehog mushroom is a nice name but i like sweet tooth better. this is one of my favorites and i am always happy to find some. they are not as common as the smaller, more colorful Hydnum rufescens terracotta hedgehogs but they are bigger and more tasty. finding these always brightens my mood, like real hedgehogs they are just very likeable.
the delicate spikes are a sure sign that this is edible. they are both fun to find and interesting and just plain nice.
Tapinella atrotomentosa velvet roll-rim is not exactly edible but if i was starving i would probably give it a go and hope for the best. the cap doesn't come across as anything special
but underneath the stem is like black velvet. if you look closely you can see dense black hairs
and the gills are something else, really. they are so unique that Tapinella sp. are classified in the order Boletus, with all the fungi with pores instead of gills. aren't fungi fun!
i'm pretty sure that this bright and cheery one is a
Russula velenovskyi coral brittlegill but these red russulas can be tricky to be completely sure about. i think the little bumps in the center are indicative. if correct it is edible but russulas are not among my favorites so i'm not going to eat it or even pick it. i just rolled back a little of the skin on the cap to verify it was a russula.
nothing wrong with taking a couple of shots of this handsome mushroom with those gills.
i'm not going to tell anything about these last two. i just hope you like the pics
