Brown Sponge Puffball

Puffball;  Brown Sponge Puffball Basidiomycota sp; the medium sized Brown Sponge Puffball, nearly three inches in diameter, is differentiated from the Giant Puffball by its smaller size, longer stalk, and wrinkled, brown exterior.  The Brown Sponge Puffball, born on a stem up to 2″ tall, matures into a wrinkled, brown, mushy, sponge like ball, that is full of spores.  Spores are spread when animals kick the ball over or step into the spongy core.

Brown Sponge habit; a wrinkled, brown, spongy ball around 2.5″ in diameter, lacking stalk ring and gills, which is born on a stout stem more than 2″ tall.

Note; the brown wrinkled skin of the spongy puffball

Note: a broken head reveals the greenish-yellow, spongy interior, which is full of tiny spores.

Mushroom; White Boletus

Mushroom; White Boletus Mushroom Boletus sp; this genus of large, heavy bodied mushrooms has no ring or collar around the stem, and is distinct in that the under-surface is not composed of gills, as is true of many other mushrooms but is porous, and sponge-like. This local species has a white cap, nearly 2.5” across, mounted on a thick central stem up to 3” tall.  The thick, spongy cap often shows signs of having been nibbled by mice, often a sign that the mushroom is edible.  Many Boletus are, in fact edible, but this is no guarantee they are safe for humans.  Boletus only emerge when the ILC has experienced prolonged rains.  They prefer deep leaf litter in forest which have been stable for some time.

White Boletus habit; a thick, heavy bodied mushroom with a white, spongy cap that lacks gills, bearing spores from a porous bed instead.

Note; cap has nibble marks, and no spore bearing gills on the under side of the cap

Turkey Tail Fungus

Turkey Tail Fungus Trametes versicolor; this leathery fungus grows on dead wood, whether on the ground or on a standing tree.  The shelf like fungus grows in bands as it expands, creating an interesting, colorful pattern said to resemble the pattern of a mature turkey tail when it is expanded in strut.  Different species have different color patterns, some variations of grey, other tan with darker lines.  The undersides do not have gills, but a soft porous layer that releases spores. Extracts of this fungus are claimed to have medicinal properties of boosting immunity and even fighting cancer, though literature is not clear on how the extract is obtained.

Turkey Tail habit; growing on dead wood, creating bands of color as it grows out.

Note; the shelf like structure.

Note; the bands of color, lighter on the outer bands.

Umbrella Mushroom

Mushroom; Umbrella Mushroom Merasmius sp; this tiny, delicate mushroom is a member of an extensive genus, all of which ribbed, umbrella shaped caps held up by filamentous stems.  The species most common on the ILC, observed only after prolonged rains, has very thin, dark, almost burgundy stems, capped with ribbed, tan caps, which has gills on the underside.  Growing in dense colonies, where one is found there are sure to be others, or will soon be others.  The thin stems may be up to 3” tall, and the cap usually less than 1” across.  Only found in deep leaf litter.

Umbrella Mushroom habit; a small, almost delicate mushroom, rising from a basal volva but lacking a stalk ring, is comprised of a pleated, umbrella shaped, tan cap born on a long, filamentous stalk

Note; filamentous burgundy stalks 2-3″ inches long bearing tan-orange caps

Note; gills on the underside of the cap

Note; dense colonies of orange, umbrella shaped mushrooms

 

Mushroom; Toad Stool

Mushroom; Toad Stool; There are any number of mushrooms which have brown caps, emerge from a cup like volva, and have a ring around the stalk, generically referred to as “toadstools”.  The ring is actually what remains of a thin sheath or veil that covers the bullet shaped cap of a mushroom when it first erupts from the egg-shaped vovla.  As the cap expands the sheath tears away from the stalk, leaving behind the thin ring.  As the cap expands horizontally the thin veil covering it breaks up into small pieces, leaving behind what appears to be speckles of brownish color, which are sometimes rough in texture.  The underneath of the cap has many thin strips called gills, which are lined with spores.  As the gills expand, the spores are released, and are carried away by the breeze.  The body of the stem is somewhat fibrous, but the cap is spongy and white, often smelling slightly of mold.  Most such toadstools are not edible, containing poisons of various sorts, which cause massive organ failure resulting in death.

Toad Stool habit; fleshy mushrooms which emerge from an egg-shaped volva, forming a shaft with a ring, and a thick cap, often speckled with brown

Note; upper surface of the cap often has speckles, the remains of a tan to brown veil that covered the cap when it first emerged

Note; rounded volva at ground level, or just under the surface of leaf litter

Note; ring part way up the shaft or stem

Note; gills on the underside of the cap

Tissue Mushroom

Mushroom; Tissue Mushroom Coprinus sp; These little white mushrooms have a slender stalk up to 3” tall, with a tissue thin cap that is pleated on top, and lined with delicate gills radiating out from the stalk on the underside.  The stalk does not have a ring, or visible volva.  The mushroom body is the visible portion of fungus, which otherwise in a network of filaments working their way through dead material on the forest floor.  When the mycorrhiza (tiny roots) of two different fungi of the same species meet, they produce fruiting bodies, like these mushrooms, often in clusters, or linear groups, which releases spores.  The cap begins as a bullet shaped tip, which opens to a flat surface, then the cap curvs upward at the outer rim, helping to release the spores. These mushrooms help break down the leaf litter, often connecting directly to the root hairs of trees, supplying them with nutrients as they break down leaf litter and dead wood.  Since fungi do not contain chlorophyll, they usually lack color pigments, appearing white, or sometimes brown/tan, the spores often being black.  Fungi need water, so many mushrooms appear only in seasons when there is ample rainfall, the spores laying dormant until conditions are right.

Tissue Mushroom habit; small, white mushrooms lacking a basal volva, consisting of  thin stalks with no ring, with tissue thin, pleated caps that have radial gills on the undersurface

Note; tissue mushrooms often grow in clusters or lines, sprouting where the mycorrhiza of two separate fungi meet

Note; tissue thin cap pleated on the upper surface, with delicate gills on the lower surface

Ground Moss

Ground Moss; Bryophyta; Moss sends out creeping rhizomes off of which branch little brown spikes called a seta, bearing a sporophyte, a capsule that holds spores.  Spores grow into male or female gametophytes, which bear either ova or sperm.  Wet weather allows sperm to reach the ova, and batabing bataboom, a new sporophyte is formed.  Roots do not go deep, so mosses can be lifted off the ground quite simply.  But moss provides soil cover, eventually forming little archipelagos of green islands amidst seas of leaves or dirt.  Moss goes dormant during drought, turning a dark brown, but reviving quickly when wet spells come again.  This moss grows on the ground, avoiding winds and direct sunlight, which would otherwise dry them out quickly.  The tiny leaves, which look like miniature juniper needles, form a spongy layer that absorbs moisture, but feels dry to the touch.

 

Ground Moss habit; little islands of green, composed of tiny needle like leaves that grow on bare soil, but not in deep leaf litter, which fade to brown in dry weather

Note; moss cannot tolerate direct sun, or dry winds

Note; green islands of tiny, needle like leaves amidst the leaf litter

Note; soft cushions of needle like leaves

Liverworts

Liverworts; Marchantiophyta; common only in very wet places, liverworts can be found during wet season, drying up and disappearing in drier weather.  This is not a disease, the name “liver” is derived from the idea that they look grey-green, like liver, and appear to have lobes, like liver.  Wort or Wart is an old English term for “plant”.  They look like a mass of gooey, slimy, leaves that have started rotting, but this is actually their normal state.  Found on path tread where the ground is packed and solid, during rainy spells.

Liverworts habit; a slimy mass that looks like blanched leaves that appears during wet spells, growing on the well packed dirt of path treads

 

Puffball; Giant Puffball

Puffball;  Giant Puffball Basidiomycota sp; the large Giant Puffball, three or more inches in diameter, grows in yards, or on the forest floor.  Beginning as a speckled, white globe, the Puffball matures into a brown, mushy, sponge like ball that is full of spores. Spores are spread when animals kick the ball over and it rolls around.

Giant Puffball habit; a large, white speckled globe that matures into a spongy brown ball full of spores

Note; brown spongy ball on the forest floor

Note; spongy interior full of spores

Puffball; Acorn Puffball

Puffball; Acorn Puffball Geastrum fibriatum (Earth Star), begins as a chocolate drop shaped, grey dome no more than ¾” in diameter, that pushes up through the soil.  It then splits into many sections (8-9) which curl back, exposing a thin, soft, grey bubble with a small, central pin-hole.   A curl of ‘smoke’ erupts when the bubble is thumped, or when a raindrop falls on it.  Common in yards, or forest floors, puffballs dry up and disappear with hot, dry weather.

Acorn Puffball habit; beginning as a grey dome that splits into strips that curl back

Note the central grey, thin skinned bubble of spores with a central pin-hole opening

Note; emits a puff of ‘smoke’ when thumped