Greetings all,
Although it was unfortunate that Shannon was unable to join us on Monday due to illness and the weather was less than ideal, we did have a productive gathering over lunch, thanks to all the contributions of specimens. The slides illustrate what we looked at- Polypores and Inky caps being prominent. I have typed up a list (Mushroom list – Botany Group Oct 16-17) of what we had in the trays – you can look them up on E-flora for illustrations and species descriptions.
I took a spore print (see photo) of one of the medium sized white mushrooms ( brought by Ruth) that looked as if it could be an agaric, but its white spore rather than dark, together with the persistent ring around the stipe, confirmed that it was Leucoagaricus leucothites ( the “leuco”- part from the Greek for white).
We did venture out a few paces from the house to see the Earthstars under the Red Cedar. They are one of the more unusual fungi around. See photo attached.
Further to the fleshy orange mushroom that was found beside the trail to Battleship Lake, my original ID as Echinodontium tinctorium is not correct. I sent photos to Shannon and she thinks it is likely Pycnoporellus alboluteus – and indeed the description and photos of that in E-flora look closer to what we have. I’ll send her a small piece so that she can examine it under the microscope and confirm. The Echinodontium was interesting for its uses by First Nations, such as face paint and according to Nancy Turner’s sources in a salve to protect the skin from sunburn or insect bites, but the growth pattern did not quite fit. And in this case a spore print would have been tricky to obtain.
Out next gathering will be on November 13th – if you have any requests or suggestions for a venue and focus, please let me know. We could try Nymph Falls or Seal Bay Park for mushrooms, since the recent downpours might have provided enough moisture to entice some fungi to send up their fruiting bodies.
Alison
