Top Photo: Devil’s stinkhorn. The spreading of mulch is a common chore here at the museum. What with new plants going in, exhibits being installed or altered and multiple other projects going on, mulch is a common sight. Following the mulch, sometimes months later, comes fungus. Various mushrooms rise up out of the decaying organic material in the mulch. Pictured, we have what looks like devil’s stinkhorn (Phallus rubicundus) which is not a North American species. It’s similar to nativeRead more
Posts tagged: #mushroom
Caterpillars Galore, a Mushroom, and a Broken Heart
Top Photo: Virginia tiger moth caterpillar. For those who appreciate lepidopteran larvae, last week was caterpillar paradise. Collectively, we rangers found several Virginia tiger moth caterpillars (above and below), a dozen banded sphinx moth caterpillars, a couple of smartweed or smeared dagger moth caterpillars, a southern flannel moth caterpillar and a camouflaged looper. And, thanks to Landscape Tech Jenn we got to see a couple of cauliflower mushrooms. Virginia tiger moth (Spilosoma virginica), also known as yellow bear caterpillar, canRead more
From Hummingbirds to Mushrooms
Top Photo: A lichen “pipe.” What appears at first to be some sort of corn-cobish kind of smoking pipe is actually a ruby-throated hummingbird nest. Ranger Dakota noticed it lying in the leaf litter adjacent to the Farmyard. As soon as I saw the object I knew it was a hummers nest, about 1 3/4” high, 1 1/2” across and covered with lichen. The nest must have fallen from a loblolly pine above us on the path. The delicate lookingRead more
Red-shouldered, Stinkhorn, and Mistletoe
Top Photo: Red-shouldered hawk quietly perched in wooded swamp. Every now and then one of our resident red-shouldered hawks displays its complete lack of concern for we humans here at the museum. The red-shoulder in these photos was perched perhaps thirty feet from the walkway in the wooded swamp on the north side of our outdoor loop trail. This past week I noticed two of our adult red-shoulders performing courtship flight maneuvers and even gathering nesting material. One hawk wasRead more
New and Old Things Emerging
Top Photo: Tiny yellow flower of Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber. The fruit of the Mexican Sour Gherkin Cucumber is about an inch long. They look more like tiny watermelons but have the taste of a cucumber with a lemony tang. These vines grow in many locations throughout our campus, wherever they’re not supposed to grow. I intended to plant this vegetable in my own personal garden at home this year but was sidetracked by other matters. I’ll make sure toRead more
A Stinkhorn and a Cardinal
Top Photo: May be Phallus rubicundus. Stinkhorns are fungi. They’re often found in mulch around plantings of trees, shrubs, or flowers. Originally egg-shaped and white, the red/orange horn arises from the “egg” in the substrate and develops a slimy brownish mass near the tip. This mass is the spore bearing material called a gleba. The gleba produces a putrid smell which attracts certain insects, including green bottle flies, to the stinkhorns. The bottle flies and other insects spread the sporesRead more
A Hairy Fungus
Above: Phycomyces, or pin mold, sporangiophores (stalks) and sporangia (round spore cases). A hairy mass of mold or fungus caught the attention of Museum Volunteer Sam as she was filling bird feeders. Superficially, it looked like fur. A closer look hinted at some sort of mold or fungus. At first I/we thought the stringy, filamentous fungus was growing up from the thistle or niger seed that was spilled along the ground near the bird feeders in Catch the Wind. ARead more
Another Mushroom
Poronidulus conchifer is a polypore fungus. Polypores are mushrooms found mainly on dead or living trees, which play an important part in wood decay, as you can imagine. I first saw the ones pictured somewhere along the path in Explore the Wild. At the time, I didn’t know what they were. They looked very much like bird’s nest mushrooms, sans eggs, but as I later found out, are not related. They were about 1/4” – 3/8” across. Bird’s nests areRead more
Something To Get Excited About
Near the end of the day, while searching in the woods for browse for the insects in the Butterfly House Insectarium, Insectarium Manager Leon discovered a rather large mushroom growing on a sweetgum tree. He, very excitedly, called me on the radio to invite me to come have a look at it. I swiftly called Ranger Martha to do the same. I had to run off to take care of other duties, but Ranger Martha, our resident mycologist, met withRead more