This is a so-called experimental forest in the Bracebridge area of Ontario.

As you can see in the photo, it consists of an extensive network of trails near the Muskoka River through a variety of forest mixes. I observed a lot of mushrooms as the dogs and I hiked these trails. An interesting species that immediately comes to mind were found at a picnic area.

These curious mushrooms had unusual very delicate caps that featured ephemeral sparkley bits. I had never seen anything like these. I guessed they were Coprinus and discovered photos of Coprinus micaceus in Barron’s book that looked just like the ones I observed. These were mica caps. They are apparently edible, but they didn’t look very appetizing to me. There were dozens of them growing from wood chips that were spread around the picnic area.

Throughout the Bracebridge forests I saw plenty of corals. I suspect I observed perhaps two or  three different corals. I find them difficult to tell one from another and I didn’t collect samples to study. That said, my best guess on the one in this photo is the Cockscomb coral, Clavulina cristata. A number of the coral fungi are reported to be good to eat, but I haven’t tried any of them and one of the reasons for that is my uncertainty in discerning one from another.

We hiked a number of trails and the forests around them during the day spent in these forests. This included a detour for the dogs to swim in the river, and it also included both well-groomed and rougher trails. I was the only person in the complex the day I was there. I may have forgotten the posted rule about dogs being on-leash at all times (allegedly and hypothetically). I’ll feature some of the other mushrooms found in this area in other posts in the coming days.