After the Autumn Rains

The forests are wet wonderlands at the moment, and these are perfect conditions for mushrooms to sprout in all their wonder. It's a small world, so I used the macro functions of my Olympus TG6 to get the fine details. I will refrain from trying to ID these mushrooms because I don't want to give you the wrong info. I usually just assume that instead of giving me enlightenment if I were to eat them, these mushrooms will give me severe stomach cramps and leave me foaming at the mouth in the emergency room at the hospital. 💀 They're still really cool looking, and a wonder to photograph.

Not all the trees in the forest have fungi growing on them, so when you come across them, it's a special moment. The incessant rains makes the soil nutrient poor and trees susceptible to strong winds and even deadly fungi capable of destroying them. I don't know if this is what is going on in these shots, or if both species have alternate domestic arrangements.

I nearly missed these ones because they blended so well with the dead vegetation on the ground.

I was extremely careful where I stepped and did not venture far off the beaten path, mainly because I'm scared of coyotes and bears, but also because I didn't want to disturb my tiny hosts.

It's not all bad news for trees as far as fungi are concerned. The two species have developed surprising symbiotic relationships. The fungi attach themselves to the tree roots (hence the name fungus root) where they extract nutrients and water from the soil for the trees, who in turn give the fungi some sweet sugar. Without this relationship, the trees could potentially die from drought and lack of nutrients (Cannings and Cannings, 1996).

Fungi perform other important functions in the forest ecosystem such as cleaning up decaying matter from dead plants and animals.

These water droplets appear to be coming out of small pores in the mushroom. I wonder what would happen if I collected the drops and drank them. Pure crystalline healing water or a portal to another dimension called the ER? 😐

Thank you for visiting this spooky fungi Friday. 👻

Resource

British Columbia- A Natural History by Richard Cannings and Sydney Cannings, 1996.

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Images by @litguru