So imagine someone who knows a few things about mushrooms. Like, yeaah that's an amanita muscaria. Probably shouldn't pick except I want a truly unique experience. Or cantharellus cibarius, good pick for my vitamin D. Or that dried boletus edulis is an excellent choice for an creamy risotto.
To make it short: Some basic knowledge. And of course there are a lot of different spieces out there. Some so small I can't even see them. Some inside of me. And thus I discover so many new things every time just because I don't knew they existed until then. Truly fascinating for my curiousity!
And of course, I simply believe that everybody has this tiny, secret wish to find a rare one. One you looked up and studied, just because it was so beautifully fascinating. And sometimes, Antonius helps finding things.
From afar I saw this big white thing shining throu the trees and immediatly I was courious. Could it be I found something quite unique and rare? On my strolls through the Drawieński Park Narodowy near the Drawa in september 2020 I was lucky to find this absolutely stunning hericium collaroides.
And it sure was a big one! There grew a few on this old rotten trunk of a birchtree. Each approximate 20 cm big. I was so excited about this discovery that I forgot to take a picture of the whole trunk but let me just tell you this to assure you how big it was: Look at the bork of the birchtrunk. There is only one explanation why it ripps into such big pieces: The tree had to be growing for a long time so that the bork is structured like that. That means it must've been a quite old and in any case a quite big tree. I would not be able to wrap my arms around it if I've tried!
Since this fungi is worthy of protection I let it be where it was. And I have this little hope that it will still be there when I visit it again. If it's not there anymore I'm still happy I was blessed to lay my eyes on this truly magnificent mushroom.
yours: >.<