Fiscalini Ranch Preserve,
Cambria, California
Tags: Fabaceae
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Fiscalini Ranch,
Cambria, California
Disclosure: I replaced the nearly all-gray sky.
Tags: thrift Armeria Fiscalini Ranch
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Under Monterey Pine, Pinus radiata,
Fiscalini Ranch Preserve,
Cambria, California
My friend, Dennis, who has scoured this area for mushrooms for years, had only seen this species several times there before. Apparently it is, "Uncommon on the coast, fruiting in late winter and spring." And more common in the mountains.--Noah Siegel & Christian Schwarz, Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast
Tags: mushroom fungi Fiscalini Ranch
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Under Monterey Pine, Pinus radiata,
Fiscalini Ranch Preserve,
Cambria, California
Compared to some of this species, these are small ones.
Tags: mushroom fungus Fiscalini Ranch
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Various stages on fallen pine,
Fiscalini Ranch Preserve,
Cambria, California
This was a common fungus on our walk in the woods, but they weren't usually this concentrated. For scale, these are typically about 1" (2-3cm) in dia.
No, it doesn't look "cryptic" at all. But see this note:
"Because the shiny, lacquered outer surface hides a mysterious inner chamber, this fungus (technically a polypore) is also called pouch fungus and veiled polypore. As the fungus nears maturity, the floor of the inner chamber opens a trapdoor that admits tiny black bark beetles. The insects feast on fungal tissue, and while scrambling around the chamber, end up dusted with spores. When the beetles finally crawl out the trapdoor and burrow into healthy trees to lay their eggs, they inadvertently help fungal spores get past a trees' shield of tough, defensive bark. Globe fungi often sprout directly out of beetle holes. . . . Tucked beneath the fungal body, the inner chamber is a fascinating structure. Its ceiling is pockmarked with thousands of pores that rain spores down onto the floor of the inner chamber and onto any beetle walking to and fro. Each fungus produces an estimated 4.5 billion spores."--David Kukas, L.A. Times
Tags: mushroom fungus Fiscalini Ranch
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