Mushroom mystery semi-solved

October 02, 2015  •  Leave a Comment

Mycena mushrooms, BabcockMycena mushrooms, Babcock

It's been a slow late-summer and early-fall for mushrooms, and that, of course, is the fault of the persistent drought. Many species of fungi need moisture to convince them that it's time to craft the above-ground reproductive structures which so delight the eye and send mycophagists into states approaching ecstasy. (I suppose it's not an overstatement to say that some species actually induce that state... but I wouldn't know anything about that....) And with the rain, we now have fungal liftoff. I know, by sight, the identities of a fair number of edible species, and I'm always up for learning more, good eating ones or just those that make for good viewing—and good photography. This delicate group was growing right out of a rotting stump, and though I'd seen this kind before, I couldn't come up with a genus name. My collection of field guides, along with various reliable sites on the Internet, pointed me in the right direction, which, if I'm correct, would put these in the Mycena basket. To get more specific will require calling in the mycologists.


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