A key identifying feature for many mushrooms is whether they “bruise” or “stain” a certain color. To test this you don’t have to punch your mushroom, or drop it off a small cliff. Simply scratch the surface with a knife, or if you don’t have one, your fingernail, as above. It can also be usefulContinue reading “Mushroom Lingo #2: Bruising”
Monthly Archives: July 2020
Exsudoporus frostii! A Gem of a Mushroom.
This gem of a mushroom was definitely the highlight of today’s hike. Not only does it have a beautifully “reticulate” stipe, it exudes (hence the scientific name) golden droplets when young and fresh, something I didn’t know until today. Apparently it’s edible, but who would want to eat it?
Book Review: The Borderland of Fear: Vincennes, Prophetstown, and the Invasion of the Miami Homeland.
First of all let me say I give this book five stars. It’s not easy to find books about Native American history that don’t either treat Native Americans as uncivilized savages or as romanticized heroes. I started, but had to put down, A Sorrow in our Heart, Allan W. Eckert’s Hollywood version of the lifeContinue reading “Book Review: The Borderland of Fear: Vincennes, Prophetstown, and the Invasion of the Miami Homeland.”
Coniferous Oddballs: Three Conifers and their distinctive features.
First of all, there is a difference between a “conifer” and an “evergreen,” as the Bald-cypress shows. A conifer is a tree that produces a cone rather than a flower to spread its seeds. An evergreen is simply a tree that doesn’t lose its leaves. The Bald-Cypress produces a rather quirky spherical cone, making itContinue reading “Coniferous Oddballs: Three Conifers and their distinctive features.”
Photo Highlights from the North Country Trail: Fife Lake and the Manistee
Neurodiversity and Literature: Thoughts on Annie Dillard’s An American Childhood
Today I finished Annie Dillard’s An American Childhood, a book I enjoyed a lot, and yet felt like it could have been more. I kept expecting the memoir to open up, from an exuberant description of her idyllic childhood, to a more general reflection on the world in which she grew up and her placeContinue reading “Neurodiversity and Literature: Thoughts on Annie Dillard’s An American Childhood”
Mushroom Lingo #1: Reticulate
Words are power, and one of the early obstacles to identifying mushrooms is understanding the terminology of the field guides. Today we’ll focus on the adjective “reticulate” because recently I’ve found lots of the Ornate Stalked Bolete, which illustrates that term perfectly. Reticulate is not just a mushrooming term, but it’s also not common knowledge.Continue reading “Mushroom Lingo #1: Reticulate”
It’s not a fungus, but what is it? Part 2
Plants are multicellular organisms that use chlorophyll to make their own food…right? Well, not always, as it turns out. There are actually a number of plants that parasitize other organisms, mistletoe, for example. Or American Cancer Root, which has featured before on this blog and parasitizes oaks. But have you ever heard of a plantContinue reading “It’s not a fungus, but what is it? Part 2”
It’s not a fungus, but what is it?
One of the fun things about looking for mushrooms is that often in the process you will find and learn about something else. Maybe it’s trees, or insects, or mosses…or slime molds. Many is the time I’ve bent down to look at a spot of color on a log to discover strange globs, blobs, fuzzes,Continue reading “It’s not a fungus, but what is it?”
recycled paper clips 