Mushrooms and Lichens

I have been taking pictures of mushrooms and lichens since 2003. Mostly it is the color of the mushroom or shape of the thing that catches my eye. Rarely, did I identify those pictures but here are some....

First, I had to find some field guides and I took out some books from the library. These are the ones I found from public libraries and colleges from all over the state.
Peterson Field Guide to Mushrooms
National Audubon Field Guide to North American Mushrooms
Demystified Mushrooms
Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America
Mushrooms of Northeast North America
Mushrooms of Northeastern North America
Lichens of the North Woods

I discovered that the identification of mushrooms and lichens is much harder than that of birds. A photo helps with birds but in mushrooms, you have to photograph the setting with the fungi, then look under them or actually dig up the mushroom to look underneath at the gills, stem and root. So far I have not started to dig them up. However, I have stepped on them especially puff balls to listen whether they would pop.

Lichens are vegetation found all over the world and are a very important indicator of the health of air quality which I didn't know. I did know that lichens are used as nest building material for hummingbirds. Lichens grow on rocks, trees and the ground. Often, lichens have wonderful colors and their dyes were used in the Harris Tweed until 1970.

Oddly, my first picture was of a lichen called British Soldiers. In all the wars in Canada and the US, the British soldiers were often called Redcoats and when you see the red caps on this lichen, you can see why it is called that and also why I took the picture.

British Soldiers - Cladonia cristatella

Close up of British Soldiers

I have another lichen growing and spreading in my garden and I am not sure why. It has a fruiting body or flower like part that is yellow. I will have to take it's picture. So far, though, I have not identified it.

The Common Greenshield grows on bark in the sun or partial shade. You can see it on many trees.

Common Greenshield - Flavoparmelia caperata

Mushrooms belong neither to the plant nor animal kingdom but belong to the kingdom of fungi. It is the fruiting body of a growth that usually appears above the ground and contains spores. The identification process requires determining whether it has gills or not, the shape of the cap and stalk, presence of veil. Complete identification cannot be done in the field or by photo. You must dig up the mushroom, take it home and overnight create a spore print. So I will not be identifying all of my photos.

On a short stop at Seney NWR in 2009, I saw all of the following mushrooms:

Amanita species - Most in this family are poisonous!

Amanita species

Amanita species

Amanita species

Bolete species - Many in this family are edible

Bolete species

Bolete species

Bolete species

Russula species

Lentinus species - very large

On a hike this fall at Pickerel Lake Preserve I saw these Shelf or Bracket fungi:

Red-belted_Polypore - Fomitopsis hepatica

Polypore species

Polypore species

Probably my most favorite pictures were taken in a hole of a tree in my yard. This mushroom was at least 6" across. And what a lovely name for it.

Angel's Wings - Pleurocybella porrigens

Angel's Wings

Angel's Wings

Even with 6 references on mushrooms, it was next to impossible to identify these pictures because I had not dug them up. Don't think that I will, but I will continue to photograph them when the color or shape is noticeable.

The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars

All images © MSCI