Fungi and Spring Just Go Together
Spring is the perfect time to find an abundance of fungi because of the cooler temperatures and frequency of damp days. And now that A Fungus Among Us has been re-released with an additional 20 pages of ideas and notebooking reproducibles, it’s the perfect time for studying fungi!
Here’s a glimpse into one of our latest nature walks through a wooded area on our farm. Never fear if you don’t have a farm close by! Fungi can be found virtually anywhere, but they’re especially easy to find as you hike on nature trails, walk through the wooded area of a park, scan mulch in your yard after a rain, or take a walk around your neighborhood keeping your eyes open for trees that aren’t in the best of health.
Unfortunately, the mycelium of any fungi found on a tree grow into the tree and compromise the its health. You can assume the tree is not in perfect health when you find a fungus on it.
You’ll notice that I’m not a fungus identification expert! I’ve scoured my National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms
My best guess for this fungus is Two-tone Parchment.
This is a polypore fungus, although I'm not exactly sure which one.
I believe this could be White Cheese Polypore.
This is a parchment fungus - possibly Silky Parchment.
This is a conk. Conks are shelf-like, bracket fungi that are usually tough and woody. They can reside on a tree for many years. This one was huge!
This is the underside of the conk above.
I’d love for you to blog about your fungi finds and add the link to your post in the comment section!
And if you’d like to see what wonderful erosion find we made recently, head on over to my personal blog to read Erosion in Progress.
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