We always enjoy finding a beautiful fungus when we hike....yes, I said beautiful. They come in such interesting shapes and colors. There is no denying that the bracket fungus above is beautiful in its design.
Now identifying fungus with a specific name is not always easy for me so when I do learn a name it usually sticks. This fungus is called Witches' Butter.
If you live in California, this is a good website to bookmark:
California Fungus-Simple Key.
This one was truly unusual and I don't think we have seen it before on our hikes. It only lasted a few days and I am really glad we stopped to take some photos so we can remember the way it grows.
Here it is on another stump. At the bottom of the image you can see that something has knocked part of it off the stump and you can take a good look at the gills.
This one was just an interesting shape....don't have any idea what it is exactly but I can still appreciate the way it is part of the habitat and that it is just fun to look at as we stopped to observe it along our trail.
Here is a link to another fungus entry I wrote last year: The Joy of Fungus. In this entry I share some of notebook pages and a couple of interesting links for you to check out.
Also, you can check out two of the Outdoor Hour Challenges featuring mushrooms in the Handbook of Nature Study:
Autumn Series #9 Mushrooms
