A Walk in the Mushroom(ed) Woods

There are many ways to look at the fungii...

There is a different look to them in the winter.

One tree each year supplies more mushroom-like structures, although they tire and wilt, unlike the bracket fungus that are hard and wood-like.

Another favourite tree is a dead pine that has been gone over, close to the ground, by pileated woodpeckers. It has a collection of deep red/gold coloured hard fungus. They start out with a bit of a gloss to them, but over time lose their shine.

They too offer a shelf for winter snow.

In the fall of 2020 there was a small profusion of 6 puffballs. I thought descendants might appear in 2021, but no luck.

One of the puffballs was described as the size of a "pillow". Two times I went looking for it, and in hindsight I must have come very close to it, but I didn't find it. The third time looking I finally did locate it. (After the original finder put trail tape markers out for me🙄). By then it was well past its prime, but certainly was the size of a pillow!

The other six close by were all about 8-10" in diameter. Over a period of 2-3 months they deteriorated, becoming dry brown fibers and dust.

During my many visits to the forest, I have collected photographs of a wide range of mushrooms and fungii.

This group of oyster mushrooms were growing in a crack between two sheets of plywood on a shed floor.

I was inspired by an Australian photographer, that I met on line, to try something new. Using two flash units to make more unique images of the mushrooms.