Of Damps, Darks, and Decays: Mushroom Mania

This gallery contains 7 photos. With its many trees, Burns Bog is an ideal breeding ground for mushrooms (over 550 species as per its interpretive signage) at any time of the year, but particularly in the autumn, like shelf/bracket fungi which carve large “steps” in dead trees. This one–which looks like a hat–was spotted deep in the forest where little light falls, and taken with flash. Note the “condensation” on the rim of the cap. Photographed on a dazzlingly sunny but cold November 10.

Shelf/Bracket Fungi

This gallery contains 3 photos. From my odd and fascinating archives: I’m stopped in my tracks by the sight of these colourful polypore mushrooms, growing on the side of a very tall but dead tree. They look very much like fomitopsis pinicola (hoof fungi), but I’m no mycologist! Photographed on June 7 in the forested area of UBC Botanical Gardens.