I’m a day late with posting the third and final installment in my “Month of Macro” series, but I figured it was better late than never. The last two posts focused on trees and wildflowers – two groups of organisms that probably don’t require a macro lens to be appreciated, but whose details can certainly be enhanced by using one. This post, however, will focus on two types of organisms that are relatively small and easily overlooked, and which get…
September 22nd marked the autumn equinox – one of two points in the year where the length of day and night are equal. From here, the length of daylight will continue to shorten as we move towards winter. While I always miss the outdoor exploration opportunities that early evening sunshine affords me, there are so many things to look forward to about autumn. Although traditional “berry season” (i.e., blueberries, raspberries, etc.) is long over, many fruits and nuts are ripening…
I discovered something about myself recently: all my favorite non-edible fungi are purple. At the top of the list is the violet viscid cort that is commonly seen in September and October. But coming in at a close second is the violet-toothed polypore (Trichaptum biforme), a common shelf fungus that appears on dead and dying hardwoods. It can be found in all 50 states, and in eastern North America it is one of the most commonly encountered fungi. On a…
The fall is typically mushrooms’ time to shine. It is a time of year when my lawn is typically bursting with a variety of mushroom species, and I see a whole palette of colors on my forest walks (my favorites: the lovely purple Viscid Violet Cort and the bright orange edible Chicken of the Woods). But last summer’s drought made for an underwhelming fall mushroom season. I figured I’d be out of luck with finding interesting new mushrooms until next…
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…
With leaves still absent from many trees, it is not hard to see evidence of galls caused by insects, such as the oak apple gall, or by fungi, such as the knobby black protrusions on black cherry trees referred to as black knot. A gall is an abnormal outgrowth of plant tissue, which can be caused by all sorts of parasites, from fungi and bacteria to insects and mites. Another fairly common gall in this area is one called cedar-apple…
Sunday I participated in a fungi walk led by mycologist Dianna Smith at the Cadwell Memorial Park in Pelham. Despite a recent lack of rain in that part of the state, we still found over 25 different kinds of fungi. For this post, however, I will limit myself to four highlights that I found interesting or bizarre. Toothpaste slime mold (Lycogala epidendrum) Oddly enough, slime molds are not actually fungi, although they often catch the interest of mycologists anyway. These…