~ Fungus Among Us ~
This is part two of my Fungi Friday : Nice Day for a Walk post. As it turns out... i will have to make a third post to share the last bits with you all. Since the last post was so long and this one as well, i decided to have even less commentary on this one!
I didn't go in sequential order this time, but rather in order of interest. I will say that only a couple of photographs out of the whole lot were edited in any way. These are straight from nature to my camera, then to you! I am quite proud of that fact considering the camera i use.
Please enjoy the views!
This little guy was just popping right out of the moss-covered ground and it caught my eye. If i had been walking from the other direction i would have easily missed that little bit of white peaking out of all that green. Since these are macro shots you have to keep in mind everything is much smaller than it appears in these images.
~ Textures ~
I did mention that i wanted to touch on (pun intended) the topic of texture. From the smooth, rough, or slimy caps to the ruffled veils, or the ridged gills to the stalks... all mushrooms have texture. I have seen this texture varies depending on the stage of life or death the fruiting body is in but it's always an interesting characteristic.
If you look close, below, you can see the snail trail leading to the devoured and additionally textured area! Super cool.
Some look velvety like a flower petal and others look like they were dipped in crushed peanuts.
Here is one of the patterns that i mentioned in the last post.
Someone told me this one below looks like a child's shoe. I like how the gills do in fact look like tread.
Here is another one of the mushrooms that reminds me of a brownie. It was hiding under that tuft of grass. If i hadn't stopped to shoot a shroom in squatting distance... i would have missed it!
While some of these remind me of a baked brownie... many of them remind me of hamburger buns! More on that in the next post!
Many of these shots here in this post are different angles of some of the shrooms i shared last time.
These ones below looked a lot like wood but upon closer inspection they almost seemed to have a really fine fur.
Here is one with the cap peeling away from the gills. I really liked the dark and burnt tones of this one!
This semi eaten youngster looks a lot like a partially eaten and rotting apple.
I think these below are a bearded variety. The texture was definitely that of hair... and beard hair in particular.
I often wonder how these mushroom fruiting bodies tend to mimic their surroundings?! This one had the look, color, and texture of a leaf. It blends right in other than standing a bit above the forest floor.
But mushrooms don't have eyes (that we know of) so how could it adapt to color or appearance over time? Just something that made me think.
~ Slime Time ~
The snots, i mean shots we have all been waiting for! I mentioned i had a bunch of these slimy ones to share. I wasn't sure if the photos were capturing the slimy sheen so i took way more than i needed and i am glad i did.
Thanks to a commenter on the last post we did identify them and as it turns out... you can eat these... after you wash off the snot.
That's good to know in a survival situation because they were growing very abundantly on some fallen trees in the forest.
I think the two above are my favorite shots... and the one with the fly in it. I don't know why but when i see these kinds i think of a family. They seem like one big family growing up, living, and dying together.
Catching that drip of snot about to slide of the edge was cool.
I really like how in the image below the focus is set on the fallen and dead one of the group. That one off in the background is cool too.
Sometimes i am not sure if some mushrooms remind me of some ufo's or if it's some ufo's remind me of mushrooms. The traditional flying saucer cap! Either way, it always looks cool to me.
This next one probably conveys the snot gloss the best... what do you think?
As much as the gloss is cool i think my favorite aspect to these is their apparent semi-transparent caps. If you look at the ridges and some under areas of their caps you can see the light glowing right through!
Sometimes, i picture a tiny little macro me living under or within these fungal outgrowths.
Eggs and Umbrellas.....
~ Some Parting Thoughts ~
I really love mushrooms. I don't know why i am so drawn to their shapes, colors, and features. To be honest, i am not sure why i didn't get into them sooner! I am fortunate to be here where the mushrooms are to be found all over.
As much as i enjoy mushrooms... capturing their beauty is a fascinating endeavor considering how delicate, fragile, and short-lived they are.
I have come to find that if you look all around you... who knows what beauty there is to be discovered?
I can say you won't find any if you don't look. Sometimes, all you have to do is look. Look up, look down, look all around... and find some beauty of your own to appreciate today!
