One of my favorite mushrooms to photograph is the Dryad’s Saddle (Polyporus squamosus). They are polypores aka shelf fungi and related to the ones probably most recognized by most as Turkey Tails. Yesterday while hiking I found the most ruffle-edged cluster I have ever seen.
Usually I see them with plump smoothly rounded edges and not generally incurved as with these.
Several years ago I found another clump along Route 47 in Hadley, MA.
I liked the surrounding Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea), aka Gill-o’er-the-Ground and a few others, and made a mental note to return the following Spring. I don’t usually remember mental notes but did this time and that netted me this image which remains a favorite to this day.
The fungus has done its job and the stump is now rotted and almost totally gone.
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Those are handsome examples. Nice work. We had big oyster fungus on a stump a couple of years ago. That stump is gone now, too. Your’s reminded me of them. See if this link works. https://flic.kr/p/aNeqnB
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But often we see ruffle-edged shelf fungus.
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That is a nice clump of oysters. We get a lot of them here and folks forage for them in the autumn.
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Ah, fellow friend of the fungi! Fine examples all, and the third particularly so–no wonder it belongs to your all-time favorites. Our Creeping Charlie is in bloom here too, but my knees haven’t yet allowed me to get down close and personal with them yet. Maybe when it’s a little warmer (and dryer)…
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Thanks, Gary. I hope the knees allow you all your old activities soon.
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Very fine as usual Steve. There is something oddly attractive about fungi and when coupled with the rather handsome Ground Ivy (as we call it) then it renders a most pleasing image.
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Thanks, Andrew. Ground ivy is also another of the names it is known by here as well. We have quite a profusion of it in the yard but it doesn’t cause much of a problem.
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Wow. These mushrooms are impressive. I’ve seen a few specimens locally but nothing that would compare to the beauty of yours. The group with ruffled edges almost passes for a fancy pie. But not for eating, of course. All photos of the shrooms are gorgeous. I think, this was a rewarding find on your hike/s.
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Actually, that ruffled mushroom is “edible” except for being too woody although the early growth is a bit better. http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Mushrooms.Folder/Dryad%27s%20Saddle.html Despite what they say, I am not going to eat them and much prefer seeing to devouring. 🙂
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Like the previous commenters, I can see why that combination of fungi and flowers remains one of your favorite pictures. A photo outlives a fungus.
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A photo is forever I have heard. Always look your best when leaving the house…you never know when someone will snap a shot.
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Very pretty mushrooms! Look huge to me. How big were they?
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Thank you. The whole cluster was about 24″ wide.
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Sorry…you will get a notification with a comment saying “124”. That’s a typo…just 24″.
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LOVE the last photograph with the fungus being hugged by the blue flowers! Very unusual and original.
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Thank you, Lottie. That was one of those rare times when you think you can come back next year and it actually works out. Sometimes the fungus does a good enough job that there is nothing to come back to next year. 🙂
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See how good my mental note-taking is? I forgot I was going to check out the fungus I spotted in the neighborhood. Now I know that it’s a shelf fungus. It doesn’t appear as handsome as these from the street, but it’s still worth checking out.
I like all of these photos, particularly the one with the flowers. I’ve seen creeping Charlie, of course, but I’ve never seen it look so attractive, either. Of course, I’ve spent most of my life hearing it called a weed, and never gave it much attention.
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A weed is just a misunderstood and under-appreciated flower. 🙂 We have it all over our flower gardens and blueberries, but it doesn’t really harm anything and pulls up quite easily.
I hope you will make an image of your shelf fungus.
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I really like the ruffled edges in the first image. Have you read about myco-remediation? I understand that Georgia-Pacific left quite a dioxin mess in California, and a group is using mushrooms to clean it. Amazing.
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Those ruffles were so nice to see.
Yes, I have. Here is a Ted Talk from several years back.
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That is wonderful, Steve. Thanks for the link~I found it very inspiring.
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