Observations we discussed at WMS's first Zoom meeting on 9/17
I just sent this list out to everyone in messages, and only then realized it would make a good first Journal post for our project! So, once again, here is a list made from my notes (with a few corrections now from Rose) of what we looked at & talked about at our first virtual meeting:
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Jacki's mystery maybe-bolete she's been seeing a lot of recently: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/59611475
UPDATE: it is no longer a mystery to Jacki; She used resources on mushroomobserver.org as well as other pictures online and now thinks it is Polyporus radicatus! The edibility is reported as choice by some, tough by others. So now Jacki is doing a myco-culinary experiment to find out! There are only 135 currently reported at all on iNat with only 14 observed as of yet in Wisconsin. Many of those other WI P. radicatus were, by the way, spotted by our fellow project-member Howard (Howard64). It is really interesting to see our project members already noticeably improving this site's data for our regions.
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Rose's cordyceps species that was growing out of a deer truffle: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/59923308
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Jeremy's very beautiful cup fungi with water standing in it: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/59290124
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Rose's hemlock varnish shelf with that orientation difference showing gravitropism: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/59923196
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Howard's thin walled maze polypore showing a similar effect: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58611655
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Howard's ghost pipes, which are a plant, not a fungus, but which were spotted as we scrolled down the page, and it turns out ghost pipes have many fungal associations, particularly Russula species https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/59383747 As Rose let me know in a message, ghost pipes are "parasites on fungus! More specifically, they are a mycoheterotroph. It is the Russula that have the mycorrhizal relationship with trees, then the ghost plants use the Russula (and Lactarius in some places) as their hosts. This is also why ghost plants are impossible to cultivate."
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Rose's bog bells, or Bog Galerina, are little-researched & observed in part because fewer people venture into the thick of bogs, and in part simply being rare: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/59922177 They are assumed to be very poisonous, but that is only due to their relative, Galerina marginata's notorious deadly nature. Nobody (to our knowledge) has ever eaten a Bog Galerina to find out, or done a much-less-risky work up in the lab.
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Jacki's not-a-puffball that was actually a really cool stinkhorn 'egg' with a squishy middle documented nicely here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/59684553
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Kari's Orange Mycena that Leah recently researched to identify and learned how to use the map feature on that species' information page to narrow down and look at just how many have been observed in Wisconsin specifically: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/59845211
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And Leah's dead man's fingers that lacks the white dusting seen in many specimens because she saw hers in its earlier sexual stage, that Rose helped her identify: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58571127 But because Rose was joining the meeting with her phone and looking at such a small screen, she's now having second thoughts. She now thinks that it might be something under Tolypocladium instead. If you like, head on over to weigh-in with comments or ID suggestions of your own.
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With this list, unlike the one I sent you all in messages, I should be able to make edits to reflect any I may have missed or errors I may have made writing this up! Some corrections have already been made, and if you see anything else that should be different, you can send me a message or comment here.
The meeting was a lot of fun and I especially enjoyed the parts where we were collaborating on getting some of these IDs done or just appreciating a specimen for its points of scientific interest or for how nicely it was photographed. I learned a lot more than was even listed here, and a meeting summary should go out to the full WMS email list sometime tomorrow with those points & highlights of other topics discussed.
Thank you to everyone participating, both in the meeting and by joining & contributing to this project!
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