On the top is artist's conk, Ganoderma applanatum. You can draw on the pore surface with a sharp stick. Its Japanese name — kofuki-saru-no-koshikake — means “Powder-Covered Monkey’s Bench” which like, come on, who doesn't love that. Apparently the spores can end up on the tops due to electrostatic forces (don't ask me) so imagine a lil monkey taking a seat on one of these and then he stands up and there's powder on his butt! Ha! 🤭
Also Diane Fossy wrote that they're a prized gorilla snack and they'll even fight over them.
Then we've got a funeral bell, Gallerina marginata. G. marginata is in some ways the opposite of a Good margarita as ingesting even a piece of the already small mushroom could have enough amatoxin to kill you if left untreated.
In the middle is crown-tipped coral, Artomyces pyxidatus. I was really happy to find this one as it was my first time coming across a coral fungus. At a distance I almost mistook it for the white jelly fungus that's all over the forest right now.
The bottom-right are a pair of cinnabar chanterelles, Cantharellus cinnabarinus. They're also called red chanterelles but to me it would be crazy to pass up the chance to use the word "cinnabar." They're usually small - maybe around two inches tall - but these were an inch, probably less. If it was a larger patch maybe I'd have taken some home to eat but there were only a few (all tiny) so I left em for the creatures.
Thanks! I couldn't agree more about thr colour of the chanterelles, it's so vibrant and such a sharp contrast to the surrounding green and brown. I'd love to stumble across a big enough patch of them that I could do like a simple alfredo or something that would highlight their color but so far I've only come across a few at a time.
I like it quite a bit, though be warned that it makes some people sick if they eat too much. I'd recommend only eating a modest helping your first time
Good luck! I found a nice one last year, it was Laetiporus sulphureus so the orange and yellow one. Took it back to camp and cooked some and it genuinely tasted like chicken! I'd been interested in mushrooms before and had grown a few types but that chicken find really kicked off the foraging thing for me
That artomyces pyxidatus is awesome! I've never seen coral fungus before.There are crazier ones! Look at this fuckin thing (wiki pic, Clavaria zollingeri)
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I think almost all of them are technically edible too.
Cool finds. Good to see that there is another fungi enjoyer on this website
Big time! It's been a good reason for me to check out some of the parks around here lately, which I always assumed were mid but turn out to be pretty nice
