-
Turkey Tail Mushroom
Turkey Tail Mushroom (Trametes versicolor). A mushroom that’s commonly found throughout North America, also in Asia and Europe. It lives on standing dead trees, fallen trees or their stumps. And sometimes they’re found on wounds of living trees as well. Turkey Tail Mushroom is saprophytic, which means that it creates enzymes which break down the…
-
Jack-O-Lantern Mushroom Revisited
Today is Halloween. Time for Trick or Treat. But don’t get tricked into thinking that this mushroom is a treat. Visually, *DEFINITELY*. But not a treat to eat. Eat the Jack-O-Lantern Mushrooms and you will get treated to headache, stomach cramps, vomiting, and or diarrhrea. Sounds to me like a wicked trick. Jack-O-Lantern Mushrooms are…
-
A Drop of Rain
A glimpse of the whole world in a drop of rain. Rain on the needles of Virginia Pine (Pinus virginiana). Three days of rain. One would think I’d be ready for it to stop. For the sun to come out and wipe the moisture away with a gentle brush. No I won’t wish the rain…
-
More Hickory
Continuing on a thread that I started yesterday. These nuts are Bitternut Hickory. All Hickory nuts are edible but with this one, as the name implies, is one that you might want to skip. There are much better nuts in the woods. Some moths have the Hickory tree as their host plant. One that is…
-
Hickory Trees
There are eighteen species of Hickory in the genus Carya (from Ancient Greek for “nut”). Those eighteen, in turn, are in the Walnut or Juglandaceae family. Twelve of these Hickory Trees are native to North America. Right now on my mountain they are literally shining bright. The photograph above has Red Maple leaves in the foreground and…
-
Wheel Bug
The Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus) is a true bug that uses its enlarged front legs to grab and hold its prey, then punctures it with a robust, curved beak which it uses to suck the body fluids from its victims. It is part of a group of bugs called assassin bugs (family eduviidae). Measuring in at…
-
Solomon’s Plume
Solomon’s Plume (Maianthemum racemosum), an herbaceous perennial in the lily family (Liliaceae). The berries are a brilliant crimson right now at the end of October, and easy to spot along trails in the mountains. Just as easy to spot, in the spring, are the flowers which bloom for about 3 weeks, late April into May.…
-
Chicken of the Woods
Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus). A species of bracket fungus found in Europe, North America east of the Rocky Mountains, and parts of Asia. Primarily found on oak, but also cherry, beech, chestnut and sometimes on conifers. These trees found with Chicken of the Woods growing on them are often dead or dying but…
-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula). They spend their summer in far northern North America and the western mountains. Winters are spent in the southern and southwestern United States and Mexico. Some mountain populations in the West relocate to lower elevations during the wintertime. And now they’re here on my mountain. I’ve seen one or two the…
-
A Coral Mushroom
A Coral Mushroom. Perhaps a Smoky Worm Coral (Clavaria fumosa/rubicundula). Captured in pixels because as I hike through the woods I go slowly. Very slowly. The more slowly I proceed, the more I see. The more discoveries I make. Not discoveries that will shake the scientific world but discoveries that will bring great jubilation to…