Mycology

Spore photo taken at 600x magnification on a Swift 380T.

Update: The first photo was day 3 of growing. We harvested on day 4, and got 255 grams of tasty snack!

Update on the slime mold. Shout out to FartsWithAnAccent for the suggestion to film it.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/31300820

• Will it go away if I just clean the chair?
• What species it this?
• Do I have to burn my house down?
• How to avoid them from reappearing?

Look at that honker!

It's... Bloomed? Multiple times (see background) pile of chipped wood, zone 8 US.

I didn't know what this was when I first found it but I thought that it had mycoheterotroph vibes and snapped a photo. iNat confirmed it as Corallorhiza striata. I should have waited a couple days for the flowers to open. Very neat, I will be on the look out for more next season.

Usually show up in the garden a couple weeks before they do in the woods.

I started out as a hobby mycologist but I live in Canada and mushrooms can be in short supply during the winter. I took up amateur lichenology to fill the void but I quickly became consumed by them, there was so much I didn't know and the uncharted-territory aspect of it took hold of me. Now I photograph way more lichens than mushrooms and I've started to do a bit of public speaking for my mycology group on lichens and their ecology. I am just an amateur though so I'm not an expert by any means. Pic: Stereocaulon sp. The link is below.

https://mander.xyz/c/Lichen

I normally grow things like pioppino, lions mane and oysters, this is my first time growing a polypore. It took a long time, many months haha. I think this was inoculated back in november and I just got around to fruiting a few weeks ago. Lots of spore samples to put under the microscope, let me tell you.

Went out to take a look at some massive colonies of Xanthoparmelia growing on a rock face. 5% potassium hydroxide test results in a nice deep yellow, almost green stain on the upper cortex. The medula is also K+, turning a deep blood red/orange. I blotted the soaked lichen on some paper and got this beautiful golden-rod ink. This ink was produced from less than a cm^2^ of lichen and a couple drops of KOH. I would love to experiment more given the abundance of this lichen and the small amount of material needed to produce the ink. This photo was taken 24hrs after staining the paper but I'd need to further test the colour fastness.

Edit: I am conscious of ethical harvesting practices for lichens, I normally only harvest for identification purposes and even then I try to only collect samples detached from the substrate.

Red tree brain fungus, love to see this guy. Typically only find it on fallen branches that are very soggy but not super rotted.

Beautiful lichen I don't see a lot, its probably very common in my area but just not in my normal spots. Apothecia are striking, hope I find more.

I have a site I run on amateur mycology/lichenology. citizenmycology.ca

Snapped a pic of this cutie awhile ago. Beautiful.

Made a focus stack of some stick I found while on a walk, I guess my lens was a bit dirty so the dirty spot got repeated a few times since it was hand held
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#macro | #lichen | #zerenestacker
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The first thing this fungus does to its newly infected victim is to take over the insects mind. A zombie is created. the insect is forced to climb up and up. Eventually stopping, it latches on as tight as possible to the nearest branch. The insect will never move again.

Now the processes can really start, the fungi fully devours the insect interior. using the energy gathered, long spore producing structures are extruded out of the insects body.

like little ships sailing to colonise new land, thousands of spores float away on ever drifting air currents. the cycle continues

Found in New Zealand

Tree species: rimu, Dacrydium cupressinum

Wasp species: german wasp, Vespula germanica

Fungus species: genus and species currently unknown by me, any info would be much appreciated.

Note the fly in the bottom left corner.

I assume it must be quite smelly to attract that?

Definitely in my top 3 favourite genera of lichenized fungi. So photogenic too, I always get down on my knees for pixie cups (reindeer lichen too, if I'm being honest).

Just wondering about more local communities and resources that pertain directly to my geographical area. Most resources are generalised, or specific to north america from what i've seen

Books especially appreciated.

Found growing on concrete but I also often find it on metal. Anyone have any idea why it was changed back to Xanthoria elegans in Macrolichens of the PNW?