Denny Creek

These little orange guys come up every year near, but not on, some fallen logs in the Denny Creek campground. Since they are not actually growing on dead wood, they are probably not Pholiotas, but I'm not sure what they are.

I like the view you get of the veil remnant in this shot. These photos were taken on 10-23-03.

This is a nice shot of the inrolled margin of Paxillus involutus, so named because of its inrolled margin. This photo was taken on 9-15-04.

Paxillus at Saint Helens

Here are some more Pholiotas, a little fuzzier than usual but otherwise pretty typical for the genus. This photo was taken on 9-1-04 and was actually at Asahel Curtis, rather than at Denny Creek proper.

Pholiotas at Deception Falls

Pholiota at Doe Bay

Russula is another genus that gives me endless fits. There is only one northwestern Russula species that is reported to be worth eating, and that is Russula xerampelina, the Shrimp Russula. It is supposed to have a mildly fishy or shrimpy odor, which is supposed to be quite strong when the mushroom gets old. I have spent lots of time out in the woods sniffing Russulas, and somehow none of them smell at all fishy to me. Many of the large, colorful mushrooms you'll find growing on the forest floor are Russulas, and if they are bigger than a baseball and bright red or purple, then they are almost certainly Russulas. These were photographed on 10-24-05.

A mushroom that probably is Russula xerampelina at Icicle

As noted with the Gypsy mushroom above, many mushroom hunters despise the genus Cortinarius with a passion usually reserved for slugs and maggots and other ugly creatures which devour mushrooms before we do. In fact, many hunters, the same ones who will spend hours contemplating pileus arrangement in Hygrocybe or pouring over arcane keys to confirm the identity of a Lepiota, will pick up a mushroom, note the rusty-brown spores and the delicately filamentous cortina which gives the genus its name, and then say Cort with disgust while chucking the mushroom over their shoulder. Believe me, I've seen it!

Some of them, though, are remarkably beautiful. The goo dripping off the side of this guy is being produced by the mushroom itself, perhaps to protect it from the rain or from insects such as the one gummed up in the stuff in this photo. As you can tell by the moss, this mushroom is only about two inches tall, but I love the way the sky is reflected in the viscid layer, and the light catches in the drop, and the purple contrasts with the green... this photo is one of my favorites. It makes you want to grab your boots and a bucket and head out into the rain to see what has transpired on the forest floor. This photo was taken on 10-10-04... and no, I did not key out the species.

These pretty little guys are a variety of stalked polypore. I haven't ever keyed them, so I don't know the species. Stalked polypores are unusual in that they look a lot like an ordinary mushroom. Most polypores are bracket fungi that grow in big, woody shelf-like formations on trees. Like the Hericiums above, they cause heart rot. These guys, though, are innocently growing on the ground (probably really on very old, decayed, buried wood) in very mushroom-shaped ways, hardly bracket or shelf-like at all. Other than that, though, they are typical polypores, with pores instead of gills, and a hard, woody texture. Polypores also are often striped with different shades of brown, and these are no exception, either. The photo is from 7-11-04 near Franklin Falls.

Another stalked polypore on the Second Beach trail

This is a strange little fungus that I found growing out of the end of a stick. I believe it is a Cordyceps species, a genus best known for infesting insects and sending mushrooms literally growing up out of the backs of ants and spiders, but I really don't know at all for certain. The shiny stalks look almost plant-like, but when breaking off bits (after taking pictures) it seemed fairly fungal. This strange little growth remains a mystery for me. The photo was taken on 9-1-04 on the Denny Creek trail.

Another unusual polypore! This one is only strange in one way – it is actually tender enough to eat. This is Laetiporus sulphureus also known as the sulphur shelf or the Chicken of the Woods mushroom. Its flavor and texture does faintly resemble chicken, and it can be used as a chicken or turkey substitute for some recipes. The thick part of the fungus that is actually attached to the wood will be somewhat bitter, but the soft growing edge is definitely in my top 5 list of forest foods. They tend to grow early in the year, just before the fall rains set in, and this one is no exception – it was found on 9-1-04.

A sulphur shelf on the Granite Mountain trail

I normally do not favor the specimen shots, but that is really the only way to try to capture the beautiful colors of Tricholoma zelleri, now known as Tricholoma focale. This mushroom is in the same genus as the much-prized Matsutake, but is entirely inedible and has a somewhat foul odor to remind you of that fact. Nonetheless, the family resemblance can be observed, with the tapering stalk and red-brown scurfy coating on the stem. It is really the colors of this mushroom that make it worth noting, though. The greens, golds, reds, and browns are even richer in real life. This photo was taken on 10-23-03.

These are one of my favorite mushrooms to find, and one of the most difficult to successfully photograph. They are Cortinarius violaceus (see commentary above regarding the genus Cortinarius. They are a deep, gorgeous, royal purple through and through. The stalk is purple, the cap is purple, the gills are purple, even the mycelia are a more pallid purple. The spores are rust-brown, like all Cortinarius, but that is the only exception. The caps look exactly like purple crushed velvet, and best of all these mushrooms are edible! Unfortunately, they also taste a lot like purple crushed velvet (that is to say, rather dry and flavorless), but they are perfectly fine on pizza or any other dish that normally would hide the delicate flavor of wild mushrooms. Arora lists them as rare, but in the areas where they do grow they tend to grow in abundance. Since they are rare I only ever pick a few, and leave the rest to spread their spores in the old growth. This photo was taken on 10-13-03.

No, that's not a spiderweb. Those are the fine fibers of the cortina, the structure that gives the genus Cortinarius its name. You can also see the characteristic rusty-brown spores in this photo. This is an up-close shot of Cortinarius violaceus, also showing the fuzziness of the cap and the brilliant purple of the gills. This photo was taken on 10-24-05.

Violet Corts from Tinkham Road

Cortina on a different Cortinarius species

This funky little shelf fungus was growing on the underside of one of the bridges on the Denny Creek trail. I don't know what it is, but I love the long white columns formed by the pores. This photo was taken on 9-1-04.