Specimen AB#13 (Chandelier)

This beautiful creature came out of nowhere while I was walking through the woods. A large tree had fallen over, and there on the exposed inside of the tree hung this magnificent specimen. An ornate chandelier to complement the majestic and palatial forest.

Figure 1. Hericium Americanum in all its beauty

Name: Hericium Americanum 
Family: Hericiaceae

Collection Date: 10/04/2011

Habitat: Found growing on the exposed face of a fallen tree

Location: West Woods

Description: “Fruiting body 10-75 cm or more broad and high at maturity, consisting of an open to compact branched framework from which tufts of icicle-like spines hang…white to creamy… spines soft but brittle, arranged in clusters that are mainly grouped at the branch tips” (Arora, 1986).

Collector: Andrew Burns

Key Used: Arora. D., (1986) Mushrooms Demystified 2^nd Edition, Ten Speeds Press, New York, NY

Keying Steps:

Begin with “Major Groups of Fleshy Fungi” (p.52), sent to “Teeth Fungi”

“Fruiting body bearing its spores on downward-pointing spines or ‘teeth’… suspended like icicles… on ground or wood.”

 Hydnaceae “Teeth Fungi” p.611

1b. Not growing on cones; stalk if present usually thicker…2

2b. Not as above [brownish cap]…3

3a. Growing on wood…4

4a. Fruiting body a branched framework… from which spines are suspended (i.e., icicle-like); lacking a distinct cap… p.613 Hericium

“Hericium” p.613

1b. Fruiting body branched, the spines hanging from the branches or branch tips…2

2b. Growing mainly on hardwoods; fruiting body white when fresh…3

3b. Spines often long…arranged mostly in tufts or clusters, especially at the branch tips…p.614  H. Coralloides

Pure white, found on hardwoods in Eastern America. It is suggested that the name H. Coralloides be given instead to H. Ramosum, and that the name of this specimen should be changed to H.Americanum.


Apparently this particular mushroom is also edible. As Arora puts it "Eminently edible, delectably delicious." As much as I'd hate to remove one from its natural habitat I'll have to keep my eyes open for another of these gorgeous fungi.

Correlating Links:
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/hericium_americanum.html

Specimen AB#7 (Family Reunion)

Now this little beauty hails from the Hiram College Field Station. I was coming back from a class when I saw them. A mushroom family reunion; from tiny little upshoots to the big grown up caps flexing up into the air. I couldn't resist taking a look at this.

Figure 1. Amanita Muscaria (Yellow Variety) en masse at the Hiram Field Station

Figure 2. Amanita Muscaria (younger form)

Figure 3. Amanita Muscaria (opened cap)

Name: Amanita Muscaria (Var. Formosa)
Family: Amanitaceae

Collection Date: 9/22/2011

Habitat: Growing below pine trees among grass, clover, and pine needles

Location: Hiram College Field Station

Description: “Cap 5-30 cm broad, round becoming convex and finally plane or slightly depressed…color variable… bright yellow-orange to yellow, then fading (var. formosa)… covered at first with a dense coating of universal veil fragmens (warts) which are usually white… Universal veil friable, forming a scaly volva at apex of bulb…spore print white” (Arora, 1986).

Collector: Andrew Burns

Key Used: Arora. D., (1986) Mushrooms Demystified 2^nd Edition, Ten Speeds Press, New York, NY

Keying Steps:

Begin with “Major Groups of Fleshy Fungi” (p.52),

Sent to “Agarics (Gilled Mushrooms)”

Agaricales p.59

1b. Spores forcibly discharged, hence a spore print obtainable. Gills exposed at maturity…2

2a. Spore print white to buff…3

3a. Universal veil enveloping young specimens and forming a volva at base of stalk when it ruptures and/or leaving numerous remnants (warts or flat patches) on cap… p.262 Amanitaceae

“Amanitaceae”

1a. Volva present at base of stalk as a sack, free collar, or series of concentric rings…Amanita

“Amanita” p.266

1b. Volva collarlike (i.e., intergrown with base of stalk but with a free rim)…cap often with many small pieces of universal veil tissue (warts)…15

15b. universal veil remnants not yellow; cap may or may not be whitish…22

22b. Not as above…23

23b. Not as above…24

24a. Cap brightly colored (red, orange, or yellow); partial veil present, usually forming an annulus (ring) on stalk…25

25a. Volva usually a series of concentric rings at apex of bulbous stalk base, but sometimes only a simple ring or collar; cap medium sized to large…yellow form…common in Sierra Nevada and most of eastern North America…p.282, A. Muscaria

Bright Yellow …Var. Formosa

Correlating Links:
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/amanita_muscaria_formosa.html
http://www.erowid.org/plants/amanitas/amanitas_muscaria_formosa.shtml

Bigger On The Inside

Hello hello!
If you're reading this then odds are you either found it by chance or are in someway associated with my class. The title of this blog is very true, to most people the things I'm going to be searching for are invisibly small and utterly unimportant. But through this little venture I'm going to explore and see just how big and beautiful this world of unusual creatures can be. So what do you say, do you want to come with me?