Saprobic

Here is another saprobic mushroom, or mushroom that creates its energy by decomposing nonliving organic matter. That nonliving organic matter is also known as detritus. This is a fungus known as Hairy Rubber Cup (Galiella rufa).

Hairy Rubber Cup is found throughout eastern North America. But you’ve got to look carefully. It blends quite easily in leaf litter. Found on wood debris and fallen branches of deciduous trees, sometimes in clusters.

Its size is .75 to 1.25 inch across and .25 to .375 inch thick. Its outer surface is deep dark brown with dense hairs.

I love to find mushrooms, but just to photograph them.

Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.