It's been quite a while since I last posted to this community. After a very busy few months, the cold, short days of winter have finally given me an opportunity to pause and reflect on another year of mushroom hunting.
While a particularly dry summer and early fall led to a quiet and uneventful hunting season throughout much of the middle of the year, this year was still filled with both familiar finds as well as a handful of first sightings.
I find the spring to be a wonderful time to hunt my local woodlands. The relative lack of foliage makes it much easier to spot fruitings that may have otherwise been obscured by dense undergrowth or canopy later in the year. As the warmth of spring takes hold, the dryad's saddles, golden oysters, morels, and more burst into view from the revived soils of the woods. Below are a collection of some of my favorite finds from this last spring.
Golden Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus citrinopileatus):
Spring Fieldcap (Agrocybe praecox):
Wine-cap Stropharia (Stropharia rugosoannulata):
Smith's Earthstar (Astraeus smithii):
Brittle Cinder (Kretzschmaria deusta):
Orange Mycena (Mycena leaiana):
Blackfoot Polypore (Cerioporus leptocephalus):
Inky Caps (Genus Coprinus):
Oak-loving Gymnopus (Gymnopus dryophilus):
Neofavolus americanus:
Yellow Gymnopilus (Gymnopilus luteus):
Orange Jelly Spot (Dacrymyces chrysospermus):
Crown-tipped Coral Fungus (Artomyces pyxidatus):
Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus):
Common Brown Cup (Phylloscypha phyllogena):
Coprinellus Sect. Micacei:
Veiled Polypore (Cryptoporus volvatus):
Dryad's Saddle (Cerioporus squamosus):
Half-free Morel (Morchella punctipes):
Mayapple Rust (Allodus podophylli):
White Morel (Morchella americana):
American Amber Jelly Fungus (Exidia crenata):
Cedar-apple Rust (Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae):
Splitgill Mushroom (Schizophyllum commune):
Northern Cinnabar Polypore (Trametes cinnabarina):
Hairy Bracket (Trametes hirsuta):
Honeydew Eater (Scorias spongiosa):
Pig's Ears (Gyromitra ancilis):
Lorchel (Gyromitra korfii):
Luminescent Panellus (Panellus stipticus):
Gray Reindeer Lichen (Cladonia rangiferina):