These were photographed on September 10th along the Mt Headley trail in the Cube Iron/Silcox Roadless Area at elevations between 6000 and 7000 feet. It had rained heavily several days before.
Yeah, I know, a couple don’t look very appetizing!
Some sure do. What the photo doesn’t show well is that they are growing right in the center of a tree stump, one that was cut to clear the trail at some time in the past.
Yes, a couple would not win a beauty contest! These were interesting to me because none were familiar, perhaps because of the time of year, the elevation at which they grow or the general area, which I have just begun to explore. After the weather front that has just moved in, they all are probably under a coat of snow right now.
This sure has been a year for mushrooms. There are so many different kinds in the meadow; everywhere I walk I almost step on one, or a group of them. They’re fun to photograph, aren’t they?
Such variety! The third photo looks remarkably like the little meringue “mushrooms” dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with hazelnuts a local bakery produces. The last two photos remind me of lithops, the strange “living stones” succulent. They can’t be, of course – too wet and too cold for lithops in your area. But they’re equally interesting.
Yes, there is a huge variety of ‘shrooms and lichens too. If I ever get around to it perhaps I can study more of them. I fault myself for focusing so miuch on wildflowers and so little on ‘shrooms and lichens.
I am not at all knowledgeable about mushrooms and therefore am very shy about eating them. I am comfortable only with giant puffballs and morels. Come to think of it, I saw little sign of any wildlife feeding on these, so I would guess that none of the group is edible. (I wonder how the animals know???)
Some of those are huge! Are those ones growing up the side of the tree or what? I never saw anything like that. I always imagine all the little fairies living under the toadstools although I’m sure there is plenty of miniscule life under them in reality
That’s a rather poor camera angle: the tree is lying down on a steep hillside and the mushrooms are growing along side of it. They are huge, the largest the size of a small dinner plate. I will try next year to concentrate more on mushrooms. There are different varieties growing at different times and in different conditions.
Hi Montucky, Some, like the orange-colored ones, are quite beautiful. Others look pretty but not beautiful. I dislike eating mushrooms, not because of toxins but because of their taste and texture. Just my own peculiar taste. Have a great coming week!
I see, by the first photo, that mushrooms enjoy the closeness of their own company.
Beautiful photos.
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Comment by Mary Strong-Spaid — September 27, 2013 @ 10:05 pm
Some sure do. What the photo doesn’t show well is that they are growing right in the center of a tree stump, one that was cut to clear the trail at some time in the past.
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Comment by montucky — September 27, 2013 @ 10:11 pm
Great shots, but a couple look like the black slimy toad I caught a Purple Swamphen eating in the Botanic Gardens one day.
Great variety in your toadstools/mushrooms on your side of the world.
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Comment by Vicki (from Victoria A Photography) — September 27, 2013 @ 11:13 pm
Yes, a couple would not win a beauty contest! These were interesting to me because none were familiar, perhaps because of the time of year, the elevation at which they grow or the general area, which I have just begun to explore. After the weather front that has just moved in, they all are probably under a coat of snow right now.
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Comment by montucky — September 27, 2013 @ 11:29 pm
Very nice.
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Comment by wordsfromanneli — September 28, 2013 @ 12:05 am
It was a little surprising to see them this late in the season at those altitudes. I don’t suppose they will do very well in the snow!
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Comment by montucky — September 28, 2013 @ 10:21 pm
What a wonderful collection! The first are really pretty and eye-catching, some of the others less so!
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Comment by Jo Woolf — September 28, 2013 @ 12:18 am
Quite a variety. I imagine that even the ugly ones have their own survival strategy. Hard to think that they will be eaten!
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Comment by montucky — September 28, 2013 @ 10:22 pm
Love that first one! SO much color!
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Comment by roberta — September 28, 2013 @ 5:29 am
Yes, those are pretty and cheerful, aren’t they!
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Comment by montucky — September 28, 2013 @ 10:23 pm
Some of those are really bizarre. i like the little orange mycenas in the first shot.
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Comment by New Hampshire Gardener — September 28, 2013 @ 5:32 am
They are the prettiest!
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Comment by montucky — September 28, 2013 @ 10:24 pm
This sure has been a year for mushrooms. There are so many different kinds in the meadow; everywhere I walk I almost step on one, or a group of them. They’re fun to photograph, aren’t they?
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Comment by Teresa Evangeline — September 28, 2013 @ 6:41 am
They are. I will try to remember to photograph the ones I see now that the temperatures are turning cold.
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Comment by montucky — September 28, 2013 @ 10:25 pm
Such variety! The third photo looks remarkably like the little meringue “mushrooms” dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with hazelnuts a local bakery produces. The last two photos remind me of lithops, the strange “living stones” succulent. They can’t be, of course – too wet and too cold for lithops in your area. But they’re equally interesting.
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Comment by shoreacres — September 28, 2013 @ 2:20 pm
Yes, there is a huge variety of ‘shrooms and lichens too. If I ever get around to it perhaps I can study more of them. I fault myself for focusing so miuch on wildflowers and so little on ‘shrooms and lichens.
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Comment by montucky — September 28, 2013 @ 10:28 pm
Thanks for sharing your mushroom crop … looks like you have a lot just like I do. Are any of yours eatable?
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Comment by bearyweather — September 28, 2013 @ 2:32 pm
I am not at all knowledgeable about mushrooms and therefore am very shy about eating them. I am comfortable only with giant puffballs and morels. Come to think of it, I saw little sign of any wildlife feeding on these, so I would guess that none of the group is edible. (I wonder how the animals know???)
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Comment by montucky — September 28, 2013 @ 10:29 pm
Some of those are huge! Are those ones growing up the side of the tree or what? I never saw anything like that. I always imagine all the little fairies living under the toadstools although I’m sure there is plenty of miniscule life under them in reality
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Comment by Candace — September 28, 2013 @ 3:10 pm
That’s a rather poor camera angle: the tree is lying down on a steep hillside and the mushrooms are growing along side of it. They are huge, the largest the size of a small dinner plate. I will try next year to concentrate more on mushrooms. There are different varieties growing at different times and in different conditions.
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Comment by montucky — September 28, 2013 @ 10:32 pm
Oh, now I see that. I guess I was having an optical illusion or mushroom hallucination or something.
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Comment by Candace — September 28, 2013 @ 11:04 pm
Don’t feel bad. When I reviewed the photos that day I saw it that way too and had to remember the scene to put it back into perspective.
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Comment by montucky — September 28, 2013 @ 11:13 pm
That opening shot is spectacular!
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Comment by Tammy — September 29, 2013 @ 4:31 pm
Quite a bright crowd, isn’t it!
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Comment by montucky — September 30, 2013 @ 8:05 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many mushrooms in one clump as you showed in that first photograph.
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Comment by Steve Schwartzman — September 29, 2013 @ 8:55 pm
That must be an attractive place for a mushroom to live!
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Comment by montucky — September 30, 2013 @ 8:06 pm
Hi Montucky, Some, like the orange-colored ones, are quite beautiful. Others look pretty but not beautiful. I dislike eating mushrooms, not because of toxins but because of their taste and texture. Just my own peculiar taste. Have a great coming week!
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Comment by wildlifewatcher — September 30, 2013 @ 9:04 am
I love mushrooms, but I eat only two of the wild species, and one of those, the morels I found to be an acquired taste.
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Comment by montucky — September 30, 2013 @ 8:07 pm
Very cool and interesting!
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Comment by Roberta — October 2, 2013 @ 2:41 pm
We had a very long, hot and dry summer. With the recent rains, mushrooms have really taken advantage of it and they seem to be everywhere.
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Comment by montucky — October 2, 2013 @ 7:53 pm
I have never seen anything like that…
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Comment by Roberta — October 3, 2013 @ 4:19 pm
That’s great collection of mushroom photos. I love the first photo in which mushrooms seem to be similar which I have found here.
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Comment by Sartenada — October 3, 2013 @ 11:21 pm
I think the mushrooms in the first photo are the prettiest, and I see them very frequently here.
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Comment by montucky — October 4, 2013 @ 6:41 pm
quite the collection! Some new beauties and some old slimies 😉
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Comment by Tammie — October 7, 2013 @ 9:10 pm
This rainy weather has awakened the ‘shrooms and they are making the most of it!
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Comment by montucky — October 7, 2013 @ 10:28 pm