Mushrooms on Top of Mushrooms

This blog post was written by both Lynda (text in blue) and myself (Anthony). If it works well, we may continue this format next year when we resume our walks.

This month our Second Sunday Nature Walk was held at the Jay Recreation Area Trail System. In the parking lot behind Spruce Mountain High School in Jay a collection of explorers began to assemble as 9:00 am approached. Lynda and I had explored the trails on the previous day and found them not only to be in fine condition but teeming with mushrooms and fall wildflowers as well. It seems that our preparation and pre-walk email piqued the mycological curiosity of a few.

 As the group assembled I began to recognize the faces of folks who had been on some walks with us already, a few new faces, and some friends and associates. I was glad to see Lynda's friends Mike Ladd and Justin Beaudet, Mike is a member of the Maine Mycological Society and very knowledgeable about fungi. Fellow Maine Master Naturalist and all-around good guy Alan Seamans was lured in by my email to my surprise and delight. Alan is also super knowledgeable about fungi and able to share that information with enthusiasm and ease. Rounding out our group of mycology experts is Lynda. Long before discovering her newest passion for ferns, Lynda was deeply invested in learning all things mycological. Although she claims to be a bit rusty when it comes to fungi her ability to identify most common mushrooms far surpasses my own, which makes her an expert in my humble opinion.

Definitely today’s walk was especially exciting for the “shroomers” in the group!  There haven’t been many mushrooms around this summer, but today there were lots of mushrooms to look at.  

Lynda shows the parts of a mushroom using Aminita muscaria as an example.

It quickly became clear we were going to have some difficulty completing the entire walk in the two hour time frame we usually try to keep.  We stopped multiple times before reaching the trailhead.

photo credit: Justin Beaudet

                      Once on the trail we continued to encounter fungi of all colors and shapes.

Unknown ID

A species of Boletes

Painted Suillus (Suillus Pictus)

                                                             

The little purple mushrooms are in the Cortinaris family.

Earth Tongue

Hemlock Varnish Shelf

One exciting find today was an Earth Tongue, a Geoglossum species.  Earth tongues are easily reorganized by their usually black club like fruiting body (pictured left).  The trick is finding one because they are usually hidden in their surroundings and because of their dark color and small size.  Anthony spied this one.  

Hemlock Varnish Shelf (Ganaderma tsugae) (left) set themselves apart with a dry, but shiny (varnished) upper surface.  This one is not so shiny because it’s rather old!

 

The pictures on the right and left are species of Coral Mushrooms.  The mushroom in the center is a Hydnellum species.  They have “teeth” rather then pores or blades

We also spent some time looking at a few of the marvelous lichens we encountered. Some folks on the walk were surprised to learn that lichens are a very special group of combined organisms in a mutualistic relationship comprised of a fungal component and algae or cyanobacteria as the photosynthetic component.  

British Soldier Lichen

The medium where many of the fungi and lichens were growing was rich with an array of mosses and liverworts. This beautiful backdrop went largely unnoticed at the time. Luckily the images captured (mostly by Justin) show some of these as well.

There were still plenty of entomological curiosities to keep the group interested. Here we found a Virgin Tiger Moth caterpillar and a few steps later we found a Sphinx Moth caterpillar (not pictured) and after remembering to look up on occasion, we found a large Bald-Faced Hornet nest.

We eventually made our way to a meadow where the asters and goldenrods grew in abundance. Lynda made a quick reference sheet of some common asters we'd identified the day before and our group put them to use.

New England Aster

Calico Aster

Flat Topped Aster

Squarrose Goldenrod

Unidentified Bumble Bee on Stiff Goldenrod

Orange Belted Bumble Bee on Stiff Goldenrod

We saw bees and flies of all kinds visiting the aster and goldenrod flowers. We noted Queen Anne's Lace (not pictured) and Pearly Everlasting flowers as well.

Unidentified fly with water droplets

Sweet Everlasting

On our way through the meadow we visited an area where American Chestnut tree seedlings had been planted. A young porcupine sitting along the edge of the plantation decided we were too close and waddled off into the brush.

We stopped to see the wild grapes and a few of us tasted them once we were sure of their identity. They were sweet and tart.

Wild Grapes

 

Although It's a handsome flower, there was an abundance of Himalayan Jewelweed. An invasive species that spreads quickly due to its explosive seed distribution. In Maine we have a similar species, the Spotted Jewelweed which has a much smaller flower. It has the same slipper shape but is orange.

Ghost Pipe

Pinesap

Justin, who is responsible for most of the great photos used for this blog entry, found these interesting specimens. These are actually plants that lack chlorophyll. They gain nutrients through an association with a soil fungus. The fungus is in an additional mycorrhizal relationship with a tree and the host tree roots and soil fungus provide nutrients for the plant.






On the final leg of our walk we discovered more mushrooms to enjoy.

On the left is a Crested Coral (Clavulina cristata).  Center is a Jelly Fungus, probablyWitches Butter (Tremella mesenterica).  Witches Butter is a neat curiosity, but it doesn’t taste like much!  The mushroom on the right is a Bolete.  It has a surface under the cap is like a sponge.  

Another hard to spot mushroom because of its size is the Golden Thread Cordyceps (Cordyceps ophisoglossoides).  We were lucky to fine one --thanks Allen!  It is a small thin mushroom that looks like a club or a misshapen tongue.  It is a fun find, but you have to be paying attention!  This mushroom attacks/parasitizes underground truffles (another type of mushroom).  Allan showed us how to follow the “golden thread” (root-like) that attaches it to the underground truffle.  

 Perhaps the most interesting mushroom to the mycologically-minded explorers among our group was this apparently parasitic mushroom growing out of the top another one. Alan mentioned in a later email that this was likely Powder Cap (Asterophora lycoperdoides)  Sorry Anthony,  my favorite find was the Golden Thread Cordyceps).


It was a fun and interesting walk. I enjoyed learning more about the mushrooms in our forest. Those who have expertise in mycology were able to share their knowledge and those who are new to mushrooming bring fresh eyes and enthusiasm. Still others who are less interested in mushrooms were able to bring other observations to the group. Our two hour timeline for the walk was pushed to three and a half hours. Usually I like to stick to the timeline to avoid folks getting to saturation point with information. It seemed to me that everyone had a great time and there was plenty of things for all to see.

Identified Organisms:

Insects:

Bald Faced Hornet    Dolichovespula maculata

Orange Belted Bumble Bee    Bombus ternarius

Virgin Tiger Moth     Grammia virgo

Fall Webworm Moth  Hyphantria cunea  

Sphinx Moth (Family Sphingidae)

Flowers:

Calico Aster     Symphotrychuim lateriflorum     

White Wood Aster     Eurybia divaricata

Small White Aster     Symphotrychium racemosum

Flat Topped Aster     Doellingeria umbellata

New England Aster     Symphotrychium novae-angliae

Purple Stemmed Aster     Symphotrychium puniceum

Whorled Aster     Oclemina acuminata

Sweet Everlasting     Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium

Stiff Goldenrod     Oligoneuron rigidum

Squarrose Goldenrod     Solidago squarrosa

Spotted Touch Me Not     Impatiens capensis

Himalayan Touch Me Not     Impatiens glandulifera

Canada Goldenrod     Solidago canadensis

Queen Anne's Lace     Daucus carota

Pinesap     Hypopitys spp.

Ghost Pipe     Monotropa uniflora

White Rattlesnake Root/ White Lettuce     Nabalus albus

Fungi:

The Boletes we found along the trail:

Chrome footed-bolete (Harrya chromapes)

Dotted-stalk Suillus (Suillus granulatus)

Birch Bolete (Leccinum scabrum)

Lilac-brown Bolete (Tylopsis eximius)

Red-mouth Bolete (Boletus subvelutipes)

Ornate-stalked Bolete (Boletus ornatipes)

Painted Suillus (Suillus pictus)

The Gilled (Agaric) Mushrooms we found along the trail:

Fly Agaric (Amanita Muscaria)

Frost’s Amanita (Aminita Frostiana)

Destroying angel (Amanita bisporigera)

Bracelet Cort (Cortinarius armillatus)

Velvet-footed Pax (Paxillus strotomentosus)

Milky Cap (Lactarius deliciosus)

Waxy Cap (Hygrophoraceae family)

We also found the following mushrooms that don’t fit int the Boletus family or Agaric Family:

Clavulina cristata

Hemlock Varnish Shelf

Hydnellum species

Jelly Babies (Leotia lubria)