Although I had no intention to look for fungi while I was out on my walk this morning (I was hoping to find some early wildflowers blooming), when you come across something this bizarre looking, you have to stop and investigate further. A fairly atypical look for fungi, these mushrooms had pale yellow hollow bulbs perched atop a thick branchy stalk. Most of the “bulbs” were already split open, but the few that weren’t had the appearance of a baby chick’s face with a tiny little orange beak in the center. But what are these crazy mushrooms?

After digging through my books and consulting various online resources, it appears that these mushrooms are definitely part of the Calostoma genus, a group of gasteroid fungi. Gasteroid fungi possess enclosed spore-bearing structures rather than gills. The spore-bearing fruiting bodies that they produce (i.e., the “bulbs” at the top) are technically known as gasterocarps. Unlike most mushrooms that are held up by a single central stalk, Calostoma fungi have a stalk made of thick, intertwined cords of hyphae that expand upon absorbing moisture.

Although I’m not certain, I believe this particular species of Calostoma is C. lutescens. Michael Kuo at www.mushroomexpert.com had the best physical description of this species when he described C. lutescens as “little yellow globes with puckered red lips, sporting a tattered collar, held aloft by an odd pedestal of half-digested pasta.” Interestingly, the genus name Calostoma means “beautiful mouth”. Although the ones I found were missing the bright red puckered lips described by many, I think the frequent rains we’ve been having lately, and the past-prime state of these mushrooms could simply mean that their color has started to fade. Although more common farther south, C. lutescens has been recorded in Massachusetts and is mycorrhizal with oaks.