I’m a day late with posting the third and final installment in my “Month of Macro” series, but I figured it was better late than never. The last two posts focused on trees and wildflowers – two groups of organisms that probably don’t require a macro lens to be appreciated, but whose details can certainly be enhanced by using one. This post, however, will focus on two types of organisms that are relatively small and easily overlooked, and which get…
On a recent walk along the Cape Cod National Seashore’s Beech Forest Trail, I noticed some rather unique knobby fungus protruding from a fallen oak. iNaturalist helped me quickly identify it as poor man’s licorice (Bulgaria inquinans), also known as black bulgar or black jelly drops, as they somewhat resemble licorice or black gumdrops. Despite its resemblance to these edible sweets, poor man’s licorice is not considered to be edible. It is also not closely related at all to the…
Beech bark disease causes defects and mortality in American beech trees. In North America, this disease is tied to a combined effect of fungi and insect attackers. The introduced beech scale insect, Cryptococcus fagisuga, begins the cycle by feeding on the bark of a beech tree. Feeding activities of the scale insects create tiny wounds such that the tree becomes susceptible to two different species of Neonectria fungus: N. faginata and N. ditissima. Once the bark is wounded by the scale insect,…
Friday concluded our trip north, so this post will be the last in the Nature Notes from the North Woods series. It had been far too long since I’d been up in the White Mountains, and I already can’t wait to go back. I hope you enjoy the final installment of photos and notes from Maine.
After a few days in the Pittsburg, NH area (see the previous blog post for Pittsburg area photos: Part 1) we moved onto Bethel, ME. Since arriving on Friday evening, we’ve done a ton of hiking, including trails in Grafton Notch State Park and Evans Notch in the White Mountain National Forest. Some brief photo highlights from the last few days are below.
I discovered something about myself recently: all my favorite non-edible fungi are purple. At the top of the list is the violet viscid cort that is commonly seen in September and October. But coming in at a close second is the violet-toothed polypore (Trichaptum biforme), a common shelf fungus that appears on dead and dying hardwoods. It can be found in all 50 states, and in eastern North America it is one of the most commonly encountered fungi. On a…
The fall is typically mushrooms’ time to shine. It is a time of year when my lawn is typically bursting with a variety of mushroom species, and I see a whole palette of colors on my forest walks (my favorites: the lovely purple Viscid Violet Cort and the bright orange edible Chicken of the Woods). But last summer’s drought made for an underwhelming fall mushroom season. I figured I’d be out of luck with finding interesting new mushrooms until next…
Although I had no intention to look for fungi while I was out on my walk this morning (I was hoping to find some early wildflowers blooming), when you come across something this bizarre looking, you have to stop and investigate further. A fairly atypical look for fungi, these mushrooms had pale yellow hollow bulbs perched atop a thick branchy stalk. Most of the “bulbs” were already split open, but the few that weren’t had the appearance of a baby…
For many, New Years is a time for making resolutions. For me, it’s a great time for reflecting on what I’ve accomplished in the past year and setting intentions and goals for the new year to come in terms of nature study. Below is a run down of how I did on my 2018 goals and what I hope to accomplish in 2019. My goals for 2018 included: Post to Seashore to Forest Floor regularly. — I managed to post new…
September and October are some of the best months for observing mushrooms, and this is even more true after a heavy rain. Friday’s downpours have caused fungi of all shapes and sizes to spring forth. One that has been continuously catching my eye lately is the viscid violet cort (Cortinarius iodes). Newly emerged viscid violet corts have a bright purple cap, which expands up to 2 1/2 inches in diameter and fades to light lilac or even white or yellowish…