I love the strange-looking mushrooms we call lobsters. They’re actually not a species of mushroom at all, but the result of a fungal attack. A cup fungus attacks certain host mushrooms, turning them scarlet red and contorting them. The host mushrooms – there are 2… Read More
Since we’ve had a fair bit of rain in the past week I thought there might be some chanterelles fruiting in the Enchanted Mushroom Forest, so I took a drive an hour north.
I decided to drive out to the Enchanted Mushroom Forest this morning to see if the recent rains have caused some interesting mushrooms to fruit. I was surprised at how few mushrooms I saw today. I expected a lot more. I did find enough small… Read More
This afternoon, Tuffy P discovered some Dead Man’s Fingers or Xylaria polymorpha at the back of our yard, tucked in under a fence. It’s a saprobic fungus, meaning it lives on decaying organic matter, such as a decaying stump or roots. It is apparently common… Read More
I photographed these shelves in High Park today. I think they might be young Northern Tooth fungi. Anyone else want to take a guess?
This morning when I was out walking The Partners, I noticed several shaggie mane mushrooms emerging from my neighbour’s lawn. Now I would have pointed this out to him and even provided suggestions for cooking them but unfortunately he’s out of the country. Shaggie manes… Read More
Two choice edible wild mushroom currently fruiting in my area are lobsters and hedgehogs. Lobster mushrooms occur as a result of a cup fungus attacking a host mushroom. There are two hosts, both unpalatable white mushrooms. Once attacked, the white mushrooms often become contorted and… Read More
My brother the trout, Salvelinas Fontinalis, sent me an interesting article about a 2500 year old fungus. That’s right, 2500 years old. That is staggering. It’s an Armillaria, what mushroom lovers would call a honey mushroom, and the organism, located in Michigan, takes up 180… Read More
This morning The Partners gave me the look which can only mean, hey buddy get off your butt and take us for an adventure in the car. So I asked them, you guys want to go somewhere in the car? This of course was met… Read More
Mention the word car around our place and you’ll see two excited dogs. The Partners love going for car rides, especially if we’re going to the woods. This morning we drove a little north of the city to a forest I know. The dogs had… Read More
