Found this cool stump while at the park with my girlfriend the other day. I love how it just decided to spiral one day (I can relate).

Pluteus aurantiorugosus

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Pluteus_aurantiorugosus.html

Ecology: Saprobic on decaying hardwood logs and stumps; growing alone or in small groups; summer and fall; widely distributed in North America, but encountered more frequently east of the Rocky Mountains. The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois and Québec.

Cap: 2-5 cm; convex at first, becoming broadly convex to nearly flat, sometimes with a central bump; dry or moist; bald, or slightly granular; the margin not lined, or only faintly lined, at maturity; bright scarlet to orange when young, fading to orangish yellow in age.

Gills: Free from the stem; close or nearly crowded; short-gills frequent; whitish, becoming pinkish; often with yellowish edges.

Stem: 3-6 cm long; 0.5-1 cm thick; equal; finely hairy and fibrous; whitish to yellowish above, but flushed with the cap color below; basal mycelium white or yellowish.

Flesh: Pale yellowish; unchanging when sliced.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: Pink.

Microscopic Features: Spores 5.5-8 x 4-5 ; ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline and uniguttulate in KOH; inamyloid. Hymenial cystidia infrequent; widely lageniform; thin-walled; to 50 x 15 . Pileipellis a cystoderm with inflated terminal elements. Clamp connections absent.

Trail maintenance and avoiding stepping on Efts for this morning's activity.
#RedEfts #Mushtodon #Mosstodon #Bloomscrolling

We spotted the first neighborhood lawn mushrooms of 2025, this adorable little patch of mica caps (𝘊𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘶𝘴):

It was so refreshing working in Procreate again after months of painting traditionally only.

This piece is inspired by an amazing tree stump I came across on a recent hike.
Head on over to my Patreon to see the photo as well as the full timelapse and lots of rambling about my digital painting process.

http://patreon.com/lindenshieldarts

Craterellus foetidus

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Craterellus_foetidus.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with oaks; growing gregariously or, more commonly, in fused clusters of 2-5 mushrooms; fairly widely distributed east of the Great Plains; late spring through early fall. The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois.

Fruiting Body: 4-10 cm tall; 3-7 cm wide; thin-fleshed; shaped like an inverted vase or trumpet; the upper edge rolled under when young, becoming wavy and irregular in age; without a clearly differentiated stem and cap.

Upper/Inner Surface: Color variable and dependent on conditions, but typically pale to dark watery gray (sometimes nearly white); finely, radially scaly with blackish appressed fibers and scales; the margin often blackening at maturity.

Under/Outer Surface: Bald toward the base, but veined or prominently wrinkled with gill-like folds and cross-veins for the upper 1/3 of the fruiting body; gray to lilac gray (sometimes nearly white); often developing a pinkish dusting, or cinnamon to brownish stains; basal mycelium white.

Flesh: Thin; gray to grayish.

Odor and Taste: Odor strong and sweet in fresh, mature specimens; taste not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: Iron salts, ammonia, and KOH negative on all surfaces.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 7-10.5 x 4-5.5 ; ellipsoid; smooth; hyaline in KOH, with ochraceous, semi-refractive contents. Basidia 4-sterigmate; 55-75 long. Hymenial cystidia not found. Elements of upper surface cylindric; septate; hyaline to brownish; 5-10 wide. Clamp connections absent.

Chopped up straw substrate inoculated with oyster mushroom spawn after three weeks, still no pinning yet

“A Key To Identifying Jelly Mushrooms”

QUESTION: Which of the following words best describes your jelly mushroom?

Globby, Gooey, Blobby, Wobbly, Puffy, Oogly-boogly, Gelatinous, or Squishy?

ANSWER: Yes

Amber Jelly [Exidia recisa]
Orange Jelly [Dacrymyces chrysospermus]

Bracket fungi

Micromphale perforans

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Micromphale_perforans.html

Ecology: Saprobic; arising from the fallen needles of spruces, firs and, less often, pines; growing scattered or gregariously; summer and fall; widely distributed in North America.

Cap: 4-17 mm across; convex, becoming broadly convex or broadly bell-shaped but often developing a central depression and/or bump; dry; bald; sometimes becoming slightly wrinkled or ribbed; pale brown when very young but often fading to buff or nearly white.

Gills: Narrowly or broadly attached to the stem--or occasionally attached by means of a "collar" that encircles the stem; distant or nearly so; buff to whitish.

Stem: Up to 40 mm long; 0.5-1 mm thick; equal; dry; finely hairy to finely velvety (more so toward the base); pale at the apex, but brown to dark brown, reddish brown, or nearly black below.

Flesh: Thin; insubstantial; whitish to brownish.

Odor and Taste: Odor usually unpleasant (reminiscent of rotten cabbage) but sometimes faint or lacking; taste similar, or not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on cap surface.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 6-9.5 x 3.5-5 ; smooth; pip-shaped or ellipsoid; inamyloid. Pleuro- and cheilocystidia absent--or if present basidiole-like, inconspicuous, and not projecting. Pileipellis a cutis of hyaline to brownish hyphae 3-6 wide, with occasionally encrusted walls; sometimes partially gelatinized.

Amanita fulva

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Amanita_fulva.html

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods or conifers; growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; summer and fall; widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains.

Cap: 4-10 cm; oval to convex, becoming broadly convex or nearly flat; sticky at first or when wet; tawny brown to brown; sometimes with a few scattered white to tawny patches; bald; the margin prominently lined or grooved.

Gills: Free from the stem or slightly attached to it; whitish; close or nearly crowded; short-gills infrequent.

Stem: 7-16 cm long; 0.5-1.5 cm thick; slightly tapered to apex; bald or slightly hairy; whitish to pale brownish; without a ring; the base enclosed in a sacklike, white volva that fits loosely around the stem and often discolors tawny brown.

Flesh: White throughout; soft; unchanging when sliced.

Odor: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions:KOH negative on cap surface.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 9-11 ; smooth; globose or subglobose; inamyloid. Basidia without clamps; 4-spored. Pileipellis an ixocutis of hyphae 2-6 wide. Lamellar trama bilateral; subhymenium ramose.

Gymnopus luxurians

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/Gymnopus_luxurians.html

Ecology: Saprobic; growing gregariously or in tight clusters in woodchips, or on lawns (probably fruiting from dead, buried roots), and, rarely, fruiting directly from logs and stumps; summer and fall; widely distributed and relatively common east of the Great Plains; occasionally appearing in western North America. The illustrated and described collections are from Illinois and Pennsylvania.

Cap: 3-11 cm; convex with an incurved margin when young, becoming broadly convex, broadly bell-shaped, or flat; dry or tacky; bald; dark reddish brown when young, fading to pinkish tan; often somewhat streaked-looking; the margin sometimes becoming slightly lined in old age.

Gills: Narrowly attached to the stem, often by means of a notch; close; short-gills frequent; whitish when young, but soon darkening to pale pinkish tan.

Stem: 4-7 cm long; 0.4-1.5 cm thick; more or less equal above a slightly enlarged base; dry; tough; often twisted; somewhat longitudinally ridged; finely silky or finely dusted; whitish above, buff to brownish below; darkening with age; often with white basal mycelium and/or rhizomorphs attached to the base.

Flesh: Whitish to pale pinkish tan; unchanging when sliced.

Odor and Taste: Odor not distinctive, or slightly fragrant; taste not distinctive, or slightly bitter.

Chemical Reactions: KOH on cap surface gray to olive gray—or sometimes very pale gray to negative on older cap surfaces.

Spore Print: White to creamy white.

Microscopic Features: Spores: 7-11 x 3-4.5 m; long-amygdaliform; smooth; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Cheilocystidia usually present; 20-40 x 3-7 m; cylindric to clavate, irregular, lobed, or somewhat diverticulate; smooth; thin-walled; hyaline in KOH. Pleurocystidia not found. Pileipellis a cutis of cylindric elements 4-12.5 m wide, brownish-encrusted in KOH except in faded caps, clamped.

let's make sure the habitats of endangered plants and animals are protected for generations to come

Public comments against the rescinding of the endangered species act can be submitted here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/17/2025-06746/rescinding-the-definition-of-harm-under-the-endangered-species-act

Guidance on how to write the comment here
https://imginn.com/p/DJA7OOmMP8e/

Not so fun fact: the endangered species act **doesn't include fungi** because they thought fungi were plants back in 1973. The Philly Mycology club as land stewardship advocates are looking to change that, working on auditing 200 year old specimens with the herbarium at the Academy of Natural Sciences to see which fungi still exist, collaboration with the state conservation mycologist, and collecting specimens for sequencing with a research permit from the DCNR. The Fungal Diversity Survey is also a great initiative being awareness to rare fungi who need their habitats protected!

Saw some very cool tree fungus today!

#mushtodon #FungiFriday (i know, it's not friday) #sporespondence

urge to squeeze: overwhelming

Wood

Some willow bracket a.k.a. fire sponge (𝘗𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘴), at Thompson Park: