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Beefsteak Polypore (Fistulina hepatica)Observer
slegathorDescription
Not a ton of info to share, but I think this is my first time actually finding a beefsteak. White pores, red, slightly cracking top, growing from the base of an oak tree.
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Beach Plum (Prunus maritima)Observer
slegathorDescription
Again, not much of a plant guy, but the characteristics seem to match and I know there are supposed to be beach plums in the area
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Natal Plum (Carissa macrocarpa)Observer
slegathorDescription
I read this was one of the species you could find here, and it appears to be quite abundant. Really unique spines, and an unexpectedly milky fruit (to me, at least)
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Shaggy Bracket (Inonotus hispidus)Observer
slegathorDescription
I've never seen a fruiting of inonotus this numerous! Found on a gnarly oak in mixed beech and oak.
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Brittlegills (Genus Russula)Observer
slegathorDescription
I've never seen a Russula that's so...violet.
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Oak Mazegill (Fomitopsis quercina)Observer
slegathorDescription
Found this mazegill growing on the corpse of what seems to be beech, actually.
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Golden Spindles (Clavulinopsis fusiformis)Observer
slegathorDescription
I've logged C. fusiformis before, but I saw multiple gorgeous patches at the bog today.
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Observer
slegathorDescription
Trying to get a spore print now (update: dark, almost violet spores), but I found a huge patch of these on sphagnum and took several to help ID (there appear to be a few different notable moss-loving Galerina). Found at a bog, near cedar. Some of the caps have papillae rather than the simple bell shape. Flesh is the same color of the caps, which vary from .5-3 cm in diameter. No ring or veil remnants, but the glabrous material on the stipe rubs off easily. Nothing seems to bruise. The gills are a dark brown with some almost white-looking edges. Gills are notched.
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Mushrooms, Bracket Fungi, Puffballs, and Allies (Class Agaricomycetes)Observer
slegathorDescription
Not growing out of the moss directly, but in moist wood chips near some green moss. Unsure if this is the exact correct club but it was kind of an exciting find for me.
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Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa)Observer
slegathorDescription
The hens have come home to roost in my backyard
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False Matsutake (Tricholoma caligatum)Observer
slegathorDescription
I was out walking with my mom, who was visiting, when I came across these incredibly matsutake-looking mushrooms. However, the smell wasn't terribly distinctive and they were growing clustered to gregariously under oaks (near some young pine saplings).
They appear to be anywhere from a few to 8cm across, and it looks like they have reddish bruising on the gills, though that was present before I arrived. Cutting one in half didn't show any immediate reaction. They were quite firm with attached to subdecurrent gills. Obviously pronounced ring and webby opening.
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Webcaps (Genus Cortinarius)Observer
slegathorDescription
Posted as a placeholder; working on more ID
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Shingled Hedgehog (Sarcodon imbricatus)Observer
slegathorDescription
I was a bit confused upon coming across this scaly hedgehog—if it's Sarcodon, that's awesome! I've never seen one before now. It had the soft flesh like Hydnellum but that cracked cap. Found near beech on the edge of a path.
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Silvery-violet Cort (Cortinarius alboviolaceus)Observer
slegathorDescription
Kind of thought this might be Lepista nuda upon first sight, but the shape of the mushroom overall, the prominent webbing on some of the smaller caps, and the gill spacing and browning lead me to believe this is not, in fact, the blewit I've been hoping to see for a while.
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Chocolate Milky (Lactarius lignyotus)Observer
slegathorDescription
Aware that this is a messy species group in North America, but I found this cute, velvety milk cap under pitch pine, and it has latex that stains the gills a little pinkish.
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Coker's Amanita (Amanita cokeri)Observer
slegathorDescription
Based on other sightings, I think I may finally place this giant amanita that I see so often around this time.
Cap tends to vary in the level of gray apparent in the center, but all of these are fairly large, in the 8-18 cm range. No visible bruising in the flesh, and the pointy warts are never pure-white. Cap margin is often irregular, as if being this big is hard to support physically—this particular specimen broke in half when I picked it up. Gills are thick, with many short or half-gills.
These also appear to be just a bit rooted—I have to dig to loosen the bulb if I want to pull it out intact.
What's throwing me for a loop is the absence of a ring and the fact that the fibrils on the stipe seem a bit more random than the concentric semi-rings on other photos. Even so, these parts aren't "powdery" like the other species that grows nearby.
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Scaly Rustgill (Gymnopilus sapineus)Observer
slegathorDescription
Growing on woodchips—hard to really pick out what kind of wood, but not the first time I've seen these around here. Basing this off impressions of a prior ID.
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Golden Pholiota (Pholiota aurivella)Observer
slegathorDescription
It has been probably a week since I first found these growing on...a crabapple tree, I think? They seem to be durable, but I didn't have time to get a sample for spore prints. Medium size (largest cap probably 8-10 cm across). Going with aurivella for now because they don't appear shaggy on the stipe.
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Tawny Grisette (Amanita fulva)Observer
slegathorDescription
Not detailed pictures, but I found a few of these while walking along and figured I'd finally log them. Really quite pretty, and smaller than I'd imagined. A few (not pictured) had the delicate wart remnants.
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Fishbiscuit Russula (Russula compacta)Observer
slegathorDescription
Woe unto me trying to differentiate staining Russula species I guess, but I keep finding these under mixed oak, beech, and pitch pine. They range in size from 5cm to 18+ (one was bigger than my face). You can see different shades of staining over the course of a couple hours here—yellowish quickly, getting to red or dark red-brown. Different finds have ranged from white caps to a more tawny or spotty brown. Fishy smell similar to Lactifluus volemus.
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Beech Rooter (Oudemansiella furfuracea)Observer
slegathorDescription
Not my first time seeing this and not my first time photographing it. Frequently this tall alien with a taproot appears under beech trees near me. The caps range from 3-10 cm, and they have a lightly hairy, fibrous but fragile stipe about 10 cm long. The cap always has a darker central bump and has a smoothly puckered look to it. I kept thinking it was Hymenopellis, but it seems that my field guide is out of date here.