Quite a Year for Mushrooms (Fungi - Part 2)

 More of this year's Fabulous Fungi.

Bracket or Shelf Fungi

There are several species (or perhaps, subspecies) of brightly colored "sulphur shelf" fungi, Laetiporus sulphureus. 

Cinnabar-Red Polypore (Pycnoporus cinnabarinus).

"Turkey Tail" fungus has been vigorously attacking logs and stumps for the last two months. I think these are mostly Trametes versicolor - complete identification would require a close examination of the pore surface, and these are just too beautiful to pull apart for a look. (The background in the photo is shale ridges in a stream bed. The fungus is so dense that the log it is growing on is barely visible.)

Some of the "tails" get up to 6 inches (20 cm) wide.

A closer look at the multi-colored bands.

Tooth Fungi

The shaggy Lion's Mane fungus (Hericium erinaceum) was a startling find. Its Latin species name means "prickly" or "hedgehog-like". It does somewhat resemble a hedgehog!

Club Fungi

The Elegant Stinkhorn (Mutinus elegant) is unmistakable. Sometimes it has other names, courtesy of its resemblance to mammalian reproductive parts - the botanical family is Phallaceae. The smelly slime layer (it is a "stinkhorn") attracts insects for spore dispersal.

Swamp Beacons (Mitrula elegans) love to grow in wet areas in spring.

Coral Fungi

It seems that this year featured a larger than usual number of coral fungi. Normally I see an occasional coral fungus. This year many trails were lined with coral fungi.

In late August and early September, the Straight-branched Coral fungus (Ramaria stricta) was everywhere. Clumps like this stretched for 20 or more feet along trails.

Crested Coral fungus (Clavulina cristata).

This large fungus is called the Cauliflower Mushroom (Sparassis crispa). When young, it is a prized edible (but I didn't try).

Jelly Fungi

Witch's Butter (Dacrymyces palmatus - because it's on conifer wood) infests our deck rails - even though they are supposed to rot-resistant western cedar. We'll be replacing our deck railing sometime in the next year.

The fruiting bodies pop up whenever it rains, but hide during dry days.

Cup & Bird's Nest Fungi

Common Brown Cup fungus (Peziza badioconfusa)

These are much older photos, but Bird's Nest fungi (Cyanthus spp.) are so different that I couldn't resist adding them here.

When we first tried to landscape around our house, we got lots of shredded wood mulch. These tiny fungi (about 1/2 inch, 1 cm) grew abundantly, but were only visible if you looked for them. They start out entirely enclosed (puffball-like fungus), then open up into the "nest" with "eggs" inside. These are most likely Cyanthus stercoreus. (2012 photo)

A different species, most likely Cyanthus striatus. (2011 photo)