We’ve had some fairly wet weather over the last week and the mushrooms are loving it. Fall is a great time of year on the West Coast for the mushroom enthusiast and Jocie and I took the toddlers out to “look for mushrooms.” An excellent place to find a variety of mushrooms in the Comox Valley is out at Merville …
Fungi
Return of the Panther
Panther Amanita (Amanita pantherina) showing partial veil, brown cap and whitish warts. Yesterday I noticed lots of Chocolate Slugs (Arion rufus) while walking at Seal Bay Regional Park. Most were simply crossing the trail, moving from one forested side across the relatively easy going “smooth” path to the other. Later in my walk I found some amanitas and once I …
Antlers in the Woods
Two cool fungi that I’ve found in the woods this winter resemble small antlers poking out of the ground or wood. They are distinctive and easy to find if one looks actively for them. Carbon Antlers (or Candlesnuff Fungus) Carbon Antlers (Xylaria hypoxylon) is a small distinctive black fungus that is forked at the top suggesting antlers. The tips of …
Toothed Jelly Fungus
One of the bonuses of doing a bird count is that you often end up in places that you haven’t been before. Such was the case yesterday when I was scouting out Seal Bay Regional Park which is in my assigned count area. I usually access Seal Bay from the main parking lot on Bates Road but in this case …
A Pseudo Mushroom?
Back in early November we took a family hike around the Karst Creek Trail in Strathcona Provincial Park. At the end of the trail we found a number of dried up, old “mushrooms.” At least that’s what we thought they were initially. However, a little detective work solved the mystery quite quickly. Before I tell you what we actually found …
Common Puffball
Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) While mushrooming before the current cold snap we came across some Common Puffballs (Lycoperdon perlatum) along the roadside in Miracle Beach Provincial Park. Like the name suggests, this puffball is one of the typical puffballs commonly seen. It is widely distributed in North America. Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) There are several types of puffballs. However, those …
Brown Clustered Ear Cup
If you keep your ear to the ground you never know what you might see on your next walk in the woods. The Brown Clustered Ear Cup (Otidea alutacea) looks like delicate ears poking up through the moss. In actuality, it is a cup fungi. Brown Clustered Ear Cup (Otidea alutacea) We found a group of these cup fungi growing …
Everyone Loves Amanitas
Fly Amanita (Amanita muscaria) You have to admit that the Amanitas are distinctive. One of the easiest to recognize is the striking red and white Fly Amanita (Amanita muscaria). This mushroom is the classic “toad stool,” and considered both poisonous and hallucinogenic. As Arora puts it, the Fly Amanita is “esteemed by both maggots and mystics.” He goes on to …
Jelly Crep
I have discovered a number of fascinating mushrooms this fall. Even in early winter, mushrooms are producing fruiting bodies. I found this Jelly Crep (Crepidotus mollis) growing on a dead tree in an open lot a few blocks from our house. The older ones were larger and smoother, and pale ochre in colour but like their other common name, Flabby …
Merville Woods Mushrooms – Part 2
Earlier in November we enjoyed some mushrooms at Merville Woods, a second growth forest characterized by mixed conifers including pines. This post features a few more mushrooms that we found there. One was a mushroom that we had identified on a previous walk at Woodhus Slough but others remained a mystery even after creating a spore print and consulting our …