Going back a few weeks to September 21, I found a log being broken down by a couple of healthy colonies of Pholiota aurivella, commonly known as Golden Pholiota or Golden Waxy Cap along the road in the Federated Women’s Clubs State Forest, aka Gate 36 in North Quabbin.
They do look a bit like crunchy cookies and are reported as being edible although kind of slimy. I also read that some people had GI issues after eating them. As I’ve mentioned, I don’t forage, but if I did I would ascertain the ID of any mushroom no matter how sure I was of its safety. It only takes one mistake.
Sometimes I will clean up a subject a little but in this case I like the hemlock needle stuck to the cap.
And why not make a portrait of a handsome fungus. Those two words sound a bit ludicrous together. 🙂
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
The portrait is really lovely!
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Thank you, Liz! 🙂
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“Handsome fungus”–that’s a cool shot, Steve, but I am trying to determine if I agree with “handsome.” 🙂
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Maybe we should compare it to some unhandsome fungi. 🙂 Thanks, Mike.
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In that case, we have to grade on a curve for sure.
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That’s a great portrait and I reckon that it is indeed ‘handsome’ 🙂
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Thanks, Ann. I appreciate your beholder’s impression. 🙂
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Nice Images Steve! I also think Mushrooms are interesting photo subjects!
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Thanks, Reed. My favorite mushroom photographic quality is that they don’t move…even in a strong wind.
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I don’t think any nature photographer worth his camera will quibble with the words “handsome fungus.”
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This one certainly is quibble-free about mushroom good looks.
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I’m definitely favor of a handsome fungus amongus. And that is a handsome fungus. Handsomely portrayed.
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Thanks, Mike. I think it’s a definite good looker but I am a bit easy to please when it comes to mushrooms.
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That last pic is indeed very handsome!
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Thank you, Eliza. 🙂
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I’m impressed that you’ve gotten into mushroom identification. It’s not easy. 🙂 This is a beautiful trio of images, from both an aesthetic point of view and a botanical one.
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Thank you, Lynn. I haven’t really gotten very deeply into mushroom ID. Just enough, with occasional errors, to identify what I’ve photographed. I take my non-foraging far enough that I won’t pick a cap to do a spore print which helps get close to a correct identification. So mine are best guesses based on page flipping in field guides. Of course, some are fairly obvious.
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I was into it enough at one point to do spore prints, and they’re fun to do. Page flipping – that describes my favored method, too, but I think you’re an educated, careful flipper. 😉
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Careful, indeed. It doesn’t take long to come across some awful stories of mistakes made. Not only does page flipping avoid popping caps or cutting flowers but you see some cool stuff along the way and on occasion I have a sense of what I am seeing because of that.
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Exactly
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Totally gorgeous and I’d be over the moon to find delights such as these! Quite agree about caution involved in eating fungi, as theres not usually a second chance.
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With some, yes, one bite and you’re done. Thanks! I get kind of excited when I find a new and interesting mushroom. When I tell people that I am a Nature photographer most are curious to see my images and when they learn I photograph mushrooms that lessens the interest a bit 🙂
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There’s no accounting for some folks is there. ….. all of Nature excites me.
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That’s the truth. I was photographing in the park that I visit often. One of the main attractions is the deer population and people cruise through looking for them. One day I was photographing a landscape with my camera on a tripod and a fairly long lens attached. A car stopped by and the folks inside asked what I was photographing. When I said the flowers and rock in the near distance they were crestfallen. 🙂 https://sggphoto.wordpress.com/2018/09/17/09-17-2018-another-roadside-attraction/
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As a photographer I’ve had to learn to let go of the plan to do a particular thing and gratefully accept what is offered to me. I dont always get it at first, and there’s the lesson.
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Yes, I often revisit places for that reason. It can take more than one visit to recognize the essence of a spot and then compose and capture it. Separately, some places are just comfortable and being there is reason enough for going back. And absolutely I set out for a destination only to be waylaid by another attraction that alters my destination.
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I love that handsome fungus! Very interesting pattern to it, with those little darker spikes.
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It is a looker, that’s for sure. Thanks, Todd.
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I just learned that this one grows in New Zealand, too. If you click on Strophariaceae in the left-hand column here, you can find some photos of your Pholiota in a very different environment. (Well, maybe not that different, but at least distant.)
The last photo’s especially interesting, as well as being attractive. It looks like there are three kinds of “thingies” decorating it: on the stem, around the edge of the cap, and over the top of the cap. The trim around the cap looks like one of my mother’s favorite needlepoint stitches.
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Since the continents at one point were all connected into Pangaea, it isn’t surprising to learn of similar species in other parts of the world. Every once in a while I’ll see someone post a bird or butterfly in a far away place that is the same as one we see locally. It’s small world.
The “decorations” were one of the things that caught my eye as I drove through the forest. The nice warm coloration did also.
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Mushrooms are one of the more interesting flora out there, especially when they mysteriously spring up overnight. I would agree this one is handsome.
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It is a good looker. I always enjoy finding new species although I am not particularly confident at their identification. Thanks, Dave.
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