Fall 2024: A Splendour of Fungi

Barbara and I have taken a few photos of the various and numerous fungi we have had in the yard this fall.

I have shrunk them down and posted to Barbara's dropbox account. Hopefully the following link works:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/oxij9vw15gkrqati6b3j3/AGQnQ-uYNuUI5tVGbxDPdjU?rlkey=3fxby58pgkxbqa6wyap7yo7bq&st=dmrmadbt&dl=0

If not, all of the pictures follow below. Note: I have been informed the link doesn't appear to work in Safari. It seems to work in Chrome and Firefox.

The first pics were taken by Barbara in October and eary November. The ones with the darker fungi were taken by me on November 11.

Really quite fascinating. And the most blooms and variaties we have ever had (and that's over 40 years). And there's a few more that didn't get pics taken.

Perhaps weather permitting I will try to get a few more added to set.

Unknown variety of reddish coloured mushroom. Was growing against rotting landscape tie used to separate a flower bed from the walkway.
unknown reddish mushrom
Here's a closer look.
close up of unknown reddish mushrom

I thought it might be Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria). But we never saw any white dots on it. It might be a Galerina marginata.

Barbara took the following in early November.

All the fungi are in one bed out front. This bed was a small area out front covered in hemlocks, cedars and english ivy. We have hauled up most of the visible ivy (lots of roots still in the ground) and covered it with wood chips. Expect those chips have a little something to do with all these fungi sprouting this year. The hemlocks have all been cut down. But we left stumps when doing so hoping woodpeckers would eventually excavate a nesting cavity. A pair of flickers did so this past spring in the second tallest stump. Which is thicker than the tallest one.

Well, clearly, with the exception of those fungi in the first image below.

These guys sprouted up in the crack along a cement wall separating the asphalt driveway from the front lawn.
puff balls growing on driveway
These guys are growing on a shorter stump between the lawn and the taller stump where the flickers excavated a nesting cavity.
unknown white mushroom growing on stump
These ones are growing at the bottom of the stump.
white mushroom growing at bottom of stump
Haven't gone out to check, but I belive these ones are growing on the taller stump the flickers used.
brownish mushrooms growing on stump
Personally never saw these. But I believe they are/were growing next to a decaying landscape tie separating this particular bed from the lawn.
white fairy-like mushroom growing in bed
Didn't see these ones either. Though they are/were definitely in that same garden area.
brownish mushroom growing on ground of garden area

The following images were taken by me on November 11th.

Here's a look at a section of the garden bed. The stump the flickers used is just visible top-right.
view of a larger area of the bed showing a variety of the fungi
Bottom of stump.
couple varieties of fungi at bottom of stump and on ground
Interesting look. On the smaller stump. I think these are the white ones in the image under the puff balls that Barbara took earlier.
a cup like mushroom growing on the stump
A closer look. Yes had been raining recently.
a closer look at the same mushrooms in the image above
Perhaps an oyster mushroom of some sort.
oyster like mushroom at bottom of stump
These ones were growing in the ground/wood chips north of the stump with the flicker cavity, in an open space just clear of the cedars.
brownish mushrooms in ground between stumps and cedars

And that's it for now

Gary, one of the Monday doubles regulars, sent me a couple photos of fungi he found under a cedar tree in his yard. Thought it was interesting enough to include here. Expect it was taken sometime in October. He made the comment that it reminded him of something one might have seen in the Lord of the Rings.

Found under cedar in Gary's yard.
unknow fungi found under cedar on north shore unknow fungi found under cedar on north shore

Decided to take a few more photos, 2024.11.20, as found some fungi we hadn't seen before. They are everywhere in that bed. Might be a little fuzzy. Late in the day. In my home lounging sweats, so didn't want to kneel down on the very wet wood chips and/or soil.

This morning noticed a bunch of 'new' white fungi amongst the ones in my last photo above.
new fungi growing amongst an older group
One of the new ones. Hadn't seen these before today.
unknow fungi found under cedar on north shore unknow fungi found under cedar on north shore
These are in a completely new location in the bed. Hadn't even looked over here before. They are under one of the cedars.
Found these not to far from those in the photo above.
And under the twin-stemed fir at the northeast corner of the bed we found these (Barbara came out to help).

I am truly impressed with this display by mother nature. It is definitely an experience. Let's hope it repeats next year. Wish I knew if any of them are/were edible.

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