Today, I went out hoping to find my first morels of the year; no luck just yet!
That isn't to say that there were not plenty of other teasures waiting to be found out in the woods. Rather than focus my search on one region, I split my time between two separate parks: one dominated by hardwood wetlands and the other by sandy dunes covered in stands of red pine.
The Wetlands:
In the wetlands, I found several fungal species, including one of the largest, most pristine samples of Ganoderma applanatum (Artist's bracket) I have ever come across.
This gave me a great opportunity to use my new toy... ehhmm, I mean tool.
Moment of truth... how badly damaged is it underneath?
Looks pretty good to me!
This is a perennial species that produces a new pore layer beneath the previous year's growth. Based on the number of concentric growth zones that I can see, this particular sample appears to be in its 5th year of growth. I packed this sample up to bring home and dry out.
Not far from "The Great Ganoderma" is were a rustle followed by the flash of leaves near my foot made me jump. I'm pretty sure I scared this little guy far worse than he scared me. Thankfully he was patient enough to stick around for his portrait. I believe that this species is a Northern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis saurita ssp. septentrionalis).
More Artist's bracket (Ganoderma applanatum):
Other species:
Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor):
Ochre Spreading Tooth (Steccherinum ochraceum):
White maze polypore (Trametes elegans):
Thin-walled Maze Polypore (Daedaleopsis confragosa):
Time to leave the wetlands and head to the the pine forest!
The Pines:
I wasn't able to find as many wildlife of fungi in the pines today, but the environment itself was beautiful. Of the wildlife that I came across, were a tufted titmouse as well as a red-bellied woodpecker.
Tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor):
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus):
Of the fungal species I came across, there were more artist's bracket as well several fruitings of veiled polypore. Veiled polypore is an interesting species that is often mistaken for being a puffball fungi. As the fruiting body of this species matures, the cinnamon-colored outer veil opens to reveal the inner polypore surface of the fungi (see images).
Veiled polypore (Cryptoporus volvatus):
Artist's bracket (Ganoderma applanatum):
While on my way out of the park for the day, I noticed a very large boulder just across a clearing in the woods. I had to investigate...
Not too bad of a shelter. It wouldn't be the worst place to spend a night if you were stuck out in the woods. Thankfully I know my way back out though!
Thank you for walking with me.
