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.
September 27, 2013
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Montana Outdoors 
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