Cheesy, I know.
You may have noticed that since the rain has set in the last few weeks there are wild mushrooms and fungi everywhere. In your lawn, on your hikes, at the base of trees, wherever there's moist, rich soil. Mushrooms are the fruit of the fungus that grows underneath the surface, loaded with spores as the reproductive organs of the fungus. I find it enjoyable to see what new, and sometimes bizarre, fungus will pop up in my yard. What's more than a little challenging is identifying the many different types from the 10,000 described species in North America. Other than Old Man of the Woods, I don't try to identify edible mushrooms because so many look very similar and, well, I'm an amateur, not an expert at identification. Learning, but still an amateur.
These are just a few of the mushrooms and fungi I've come across in the last week. The first three are from my yard, and the last are from a night hike with a DPR summer camp group at West Point on the Eno. West Point is fairly bursting with wild mushrooms and fungi right now, so it was a fun night exploring with the kids.
Here are just a few from this past week:
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| Caesar's amanita |
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| wild Eastern Cauliflower mushroom |
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| White Coral Fungus |
