Fungi Friday: Wintertime finds in the Smoky Mountains

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(Edited)

Edit: I am trying to learn to use communities. I went to post this in the fungus lovers community because although I used the hive tag it didn't post in that community like I wanted it to...but somehow it also posted it on my blog now as a repeat post. Thanks for understanding ~ it's all a learning curve! Any tips are much appreciated!!

One of the great things about being a mycology lover and living in a temperate rainforest is that any time of year I can go for a short walk in the woods and find representatives of the fungus kingdom! I am always most excited if I can find something I know is edible or medicinal, but that doesn't keep me from being interested and attentive with all the other discoveries along the way.

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Depending on how you view a mushroom, they can look completely different! Above and below are the same mushroom. It was growing underneath a rock shelf, and was maybe 3 -4 inches tall. I have not identified it.

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The log full of resinous polypore was very pleasing to the eye from every angle. While I do not know a specific use for this one (yet), no polypore is poisonous and they often have medicinal and edible value. Initial information tells me that this is going to be a great find, but still more research is needed since I don't take anything until I am 100% sure!

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Once again, we can see how different a fungus looks from different angles.

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This is one of the resinous polypores with a nice coat of snow and water droplets on top...

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...and the same polypore from below shows the reason for its' name. Those droplets are excreting from the fungus and are not water.

Let's play a fun game. Can you spot the mushroom in this photo?

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While I am unsure why it makes a difference, often the fungus kingdom is a master at camouflage. This specimen is in the decaying process and has made it through several freezes. The decomposition process has it nearly invisible in the leaf litter!

This particular find was interesting. I am unsure if it is going to grow into a full mushroom of some sort, if it is an abort, or what. It was in a nice dry spot under a rock shelf.

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Sometimes finding an abort is exciting. We only just discovered that the aborted entoloma grows under the leaf litter near the creek a few weeks ago. Sometimes called "shrimp of the woods", before they started decaying (which is what you see here, these are at least a month old), the aborts have a pinkish tint under the white. However, through the frost and snow the lifespan on this particular mushroom appears to be fairly lengthy.

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Now that I know more about them, the next time the aborted entolomas appear we will take a spore print for confirmation of our identification. Then we will be able to experiment with different recipes, because they are reported to be not only edible but also palatable as well!

One final bright discovery to share this wet and gray Friday here in the southern Appalachians ~

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Sometimes the tiniest of mushrooms is inspiration to my imagination. I like to envision being small enough to stand under ones such as these, where the moss is a forest and the world is larger than life!

Thanks for reading! Happy steeming and may your weekend be vibrant and full of fungi fancies!

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hive-166168 fungifriday naturalmedicine creativecoin oc foraging nature palnet
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(Edited)

enjoyed reading your post, ty very much. so intresting!
and special thanks for this bit:

Sometimes the tiniest of mushrooms is inspiration to my imagination.

have a !BEER, my friend!

although I used the hive tag it didn't post in that community ... any tips are much appreciated!!

I get it so: authors have to choose only one community at once, to publish the post. 'hive-120078' is the group for natural medicine -- so, I assume, you posted it (tried to!) into two groups at once, and the 1st tag was the one for natural medicine. thats why it wasnt displayer in the fungi lovers group. you have to choose: here or there, one cannot have both at once. sadly, but this is the way this new feature works.

i cant boast with such a great content as yours, sadly, and hadnt time enaf on Friday to post everything I wanted, at all... sadly it were no posts from me. I have to experiment and learn with this communities thing too. dont have a lot of knowledge yet! lets do it not the hard way, hehe :=)

blessings!

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