Finding Fabulous Fungi

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Natural World

Dead Man’s Fingers, Tree Ear, Velvet Foot, Toothed Jelly, Bear’s Head Tooth, The Blusher, Brain Fungus, Fuzzy Foot. These sound like anatomical disorders from an 18th-century medical dictionary, but they’re actually the colorful common names of northern fungi. Although the toadstool mushroom look may be the most familiar, our mycological wonders come in various shapes and sizes. They resemble underwater corals, globs of orange jelly and golf balls. Knowing what, when and where to look for them can enhance any walk in the north woods.

Fungi are important agents of decomposition, breaking down woody vegetation. Without fungi, we’d literally be up to our eyeballs in fallen trees. The visible part of a fungus exists only to disperse its own spores, and it is only the tip of the iceberg. (All mushrooms, kind of the “flower” part, are fungi, but not all fungi are mushrooms.) The bulk of a fungus is its white “roots” or mycelium spread throughout a tree releasing enzymes that help break down organic matter. Many trees depend on soil fungi, forming symbiotic relationships with the fungi delivering nutrients through tree rootlets. Fungus, in turn, may get sugars from the tree. The Hollow-foot (Suillus cavipes) has such a relationship with the Tamarack tree and is found only in a bog’s deep sphagnum beds under that tree.

To fully enjoy our wild fungi, you should free your mind from the obsession of edibility. Don’t look for what you can eat (it’s dangerous for amateurs) and just savor the staggering shapes and colors of our North Woods fungi. Fungal abundance peaks in fall, but you can find them all year. So keep your feet – and your eyes – on the ground to revel in our fabulous fungi.

Bird’s Nest

Resembling a nest with eggs, the Striate Bird’s-Nest (Cyathus striatus) is a tiny funnel-shaped fungus that contains several spherical packets of spores. Raindrops splash the “eggs” out of the cups and up to 6 feet away onto fertile soil. These tiny fungi would not even span the fingernail on your pinkie. Found on rotting wood, twigs and garden wood chips, July to early November.

Fungus Fungus

A fungus growing on another species of fungus? Yep. This beautiful and delicate parasitic fungus (Spinellus fusiger) attacks the caps of Fairy Helmet Mushrooms (Mycena), preying on its host’s spores. Spinellus eventually turns its host into a gooey black blob. June to August.

Golf Ball

More than once, I’ve mistaken the spherical Gem-studded Puffball for a forgotten golf ball. Sometimes found singly, but often growing in clusters, the outer skin of Lycoperdon puffballs becomes dark and papery in late fall, breaking open at the top. July to October.

Inland Coral

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Finding Fabulous Fungi

Sparky Stensaas

Finding Fabulous Fungi

Ramaria.

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Finding Fabulous Fungi

Sparky Stensaas

Finding Fabulous Fungi

Clavaria zollinger.

The coral fungi of the Lake Superior region rival the underwater corals of the Caribbean reefs in varieties and colors. Our corals vary from large golden clusters (some Ramaria species) to tiny purple delights (Clavaria zollinger). July to October.

Culinary King

Eating mushrooms can be culinary Russian roulette for novices, and you should NEVER attempt to gather edible mushrooms without first learning from someone very experienced in this form of gastronomic nature appreciation. But once you’ve learned how and try chanterelles, morels or honeys, you’ll want to gather more. This King Bolete (Boletus edulis) is regarded as royalty in the world of edible mushrooms. Find them June to October.

Brains

Convoluted folds of brown flesh do conjur the real thing when seeing a Brain Fungus (Gyromitra esculenta). But Zombies be warned: Do not eat this brain. When cooked, it releases monomethylhydrazine, a toxin used as a propellant for rocket fuel. Inhaling this gas or eating the cooked mushroom may cause severe illness or death. Seen April to June.

Fingers

The club-like fungus called Dead Man’s Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha) brings another “Night of the Living Dead” vision. But fear not, these are merely harmless mushrooms, a type of flask fungi, that elongate and darken as they age. June to October.

Stains

Most folks know this tiny cup fungus, the Blue Stain (Chlorociboria aeruginascens), by the blue-green color it stains well-rotted wood on the forest floor. But in late summer, watch for these tiny but colorful blue cups on very wet wood. You can spot them most warmer times of year.