A few posts ago Bente asked to see the mushroom I had photographed. Well, I don’t think I will post that although it could qualify as a bad photo for Diva’s request. Anyway, I have some of that species and will share a couple of those along with a few others.
2013 did not find me in much of a fungus mood. Only a few insects this year also. It was a frog and flower year. So here are a few blasts from the past.
These are a couple of the very poisonous Amanita muscarias, possibly v.formosa and the same species as the one I mentioned.
Another Amanita, but even more deadly is the Destroying Angel
One of my favorite images from a trip to Baxter State Park is this Dark-stalked Bolete. I am pretty sure most if not all boletes are edible, but this is too lovely to chomp…..edit: A few folks have commented that some boletes are indeed poisonous so don’t eat anything you don’t know for sure is safe…and don’t ever eat anything based on something you have seen here!!!!
And a Yellow-centered Waxy Cap.
And finally, here is Cousin It and family in a nice portrait. It jr. is just tad shy. 🙂
Actually, It is a Hare’s Foot Inky Cap.
So enough already. 🙂 If you have enjoyed these I can do another collection of fab fungi another day. Just let me know. If you’d rather not…well, I’ll get the hint. 🙂
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Nice photos, but my husband, who used to study mushrooms, says th
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Gail…you left me hanging there. 🙂 Do I have one named wrong?
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This is an excellent collection of shrooms. The hare’s inky cap looks like a foot. Very unusual. There are no pretty ones here. Just going by what I’ve seen on birding field trips and in my yard.
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Thanks, Yvonne. Ooh. I thought I did pick out some attractive mushrooms. Do you mean more colorful? These have a subtle beauty. 🙂
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Steve after reading my comment it read as if I were meaning there are no pretty ones in your collection. Yes, these are actually very pretty.
I meant that there are no pretty ones HERE in central Texas such as the pretty ones that you photographed. So sorry- I can get into the dangest messes sometimes if I don’t proof really carefully. “No pretty ones HERE not THERE 🙂 as in your area. I think I made a big mess of my words now. 🙂
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That is great mushroom photos, Steve, fabulous!!! I enjoyed, of course. The Amanita muscaria I know pretty well, we have two more Amanitas that are deadly poisenous, but they probably dosn’t grow in my region, just in the south of Norway, and are rare, so I have never seen them. Ecxiting to see yours! If I found that bolete in my woods I would pick it and eat it, but I would be careful in another country, it might be another. I agree, they are not poisenous, but a few are not edible. This one is.., probably.
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Thanks, Bente. Yes, I am pretty sure ours are edible although as you say, maybe not tasty. I never pick any mushrooms. I know there are many people who pick them safely and enjoy them, but I try not to pick things in the wild so they can go forth and expand their populations. Probably unnecessary…but that’s just me. 🙂 I’ll do a few more later on this year.
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Excellent ‘shrooms, Steve. I can’t identify them with certainty so like you I err on the side of caution. If in doubt, photograph and retreat. You could always eat the photo as a substitute.
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Haha! eating photographs of the ‘shrooms gives a whole new meaning to dry porcini 😀
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We’ve bags of dried mushrooms…porcini, shitake and oyster…that rebound nicely in some boiling water. I have a feeling the pictures would fail us.
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Steve, these are extraordinary. My two absolute favourites are the Destroying Angel (what a great name!) and those hairy ones at the end. I’ve never seen anything like them, they are simply fantastic 😀
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Thanks, Lottie. I am always happy when I find the hairy guys. They are called inky caps as when they begin their decline they turn to black liquid. So different from when they are in their majesty. 🙂
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I don’t know much of anything about mushrooms but they sure look like a handsome bunch to me.
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Thanks, Lyle.
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I’d noticed in your About that you were a photo connoisseur of mushrooms, and now we finally get to see the proof. The destroying angel reminds me that Luís Buñuel directed a movie called El Ángel Exterminador, or The Exterminating Angel.
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If only I could focus, so to speak, Steve. I find so much interesting in Nature that it is hard to narrow my field down to one area as you do…mostly. Did Luís Buñuel’s character use poisonous mushrooms to do his exterminating? 🙂
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All of these are super, Steve. Excellent detail and light.
There are a couple of boletes that aren’t edible, the field mark is that the pores turn blue when bruised. The one you have, I think a Leccinum, should be edible, but not a choice edible.
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Thanks, Tom. It is a Leccinum but I won’t be eating it.
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I don’t know anything about mushrooms but I enjoyed the photos.
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Thanks, Phil. I bet you know they make a great sauce on a perfect filet. …well, not these but mushrooms in general. 🙂
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Thanks to Tom and Gail for their comments regarding poisonous Boletes…I’ve added to the text above.
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Wow…great variety! Reminds me of college.
Not what you think though! My landlords sublet to Danish mycologists each summer. Mushroom hunting with them was a ton of fun!
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🙂 I never chewed on a Psilocybin mushroom or munched on a Peyote button either, Greg. Had I stumbled across Carlos Castaneda who knows though.
I’ve also never eaten a wild-picked mushroom from an expedition with a knowing fungus hunter. A local Nature center sponsors a mushroom day and that includes foraging and dining. Maybe I should try it some time.
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More shrooms please. These were a tasty treat.
Found a few interesting specimens in Scotland. Hope to get back to blogging this week. Now have wifi access again
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Thanks, Rod. I’ll see what I can rustle up.
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These are all great shots Steve!
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Thanks, Pete. Like you, I enjoy finding and photographing mushrooms.
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