Mushrooms Again

Here's the last of the mushrooms I collected on my visit to the forest at Royal Road University.

Buy Mushrooms in the Store

Here are more BIG mushrooms from the forest on the Royal Road University grounds. If you're not a mushroom fancier you will not find much of interest on this blog at this time of year. For me, mushrooms are not FOOD, they are much more akin to the glorious wildflowers of spring. I really do wish that people would stop "harvesting" them or simply "vandalizing" them. People who would never dream of cutting down a tree in a public park seem to think nothing of collecting a cluster of mushrooms in the same place. Support your local mushroom farmer - buy your mushrooms in the supermarket and leave the wild ones alone so that everyone can enjoy their beauty and variety.

Jack O'Lanterns?

These mushrooms were so big and prominent that I have been attempting to identify them. At first I thought they might be Jack O'Lanterns (Omphalotus olivascens), but a couple of these show quite a distinct ring around the stalk which is not characteristic of the species so now I'm stumped. Any mycophiles out there please feel free to offer suggestions.

Fluted Black Elfin Saddles

Yesterday I visited the forest out by Royal Roads University again and was pleased to find these unusual mushrooms called Fluted Black Elfin Saddles (Helvella lacunosa). The charming name describes the way the caps of this mushroom are sometimes saddle shaped. "Fluted" refers to the stalk. I like the way they look but some creature likes the way the caps taste. In many places I found only the stalk remaining while the cap had been neatly snipped (or bitten) off. I suspect deer like these mushrooms too.

Royal Roads University Forest

The grounds of Royal Roads University are bracketed on the east and west with two strips of old growth forest, trees that are hundreds of years old. It is impossible to walk among these ancient giants without feeling inconsequential. I went there looking for mushrooms, some of the most transient of the forest's beauties. I found a few though the season is still just beginning.

S'AEL

As I was leaving Hatley Park I noticed this strikingly fresh and new totem pole near the entrance to the grounds. Totems are always interesting pieces of art and cultural expressions but I have seldom seen one looking so fresh and new. Like this they are even more stunning. The pole was erected in late 2015 and a nearby plaque reads as below.

S'AEL
(HARMONY)
Commemorates the 75th Anniversary of Royal Roads (A Naval and Military College from 1940 to 1995 and a British Columbia public university since 1995) and honours the indigenous people on whose ancestral land we learn and celebrate together.

Created by
Tom LaFortune assisted by Howard LaFortune Jr.
(Tsawout First Nation)

Commissioned and Donated by
Wayne Strandlund
(Metis)
Chancellor and Chair of the Board of Governors Royal Roads University
September 2015

Hatley Castle

Before we take a look at the interior of Hatley Castle here is a look at the exterior as seen from one of the gardens. The castle and grounds are a Canadian National Historic Site. The castle was built in 1906 by Lieutenant Governor James Dunsmuir. His father had made the family fortune in Vancouver Island's coal mines and had earlier built Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria. Hatley castle now serves as the administrative center for Royal Roads University, also on the grounds. The castle has also been used for several Hollywood films, most recently, X-Men. It is also a popular venue for weddings, banquets and other social functions.

Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum)

Here, to conclude a mycological week, is another fungi we are all familiar with, the Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum). These are very tasty when young - the one pictured here is getting to be too ripe to eat. Soon it will develop a little hole in its top and when disturbed by as little as a falling raindrop it will emit a brown puff of spores.

Fluted Black Elfin Saddle (Helvella lacunosa)

Usually I avoid attempting to identify mushroms, partly because it is difficult, but also because it often involves taking specimens and I prefer to leave mushrooms, like wild flowers, where I meet them instead of uprooting them just to satisfy my curiosity. However, this mushroom is distinctive enough in appearance alone that I will venture an opinion on its identification as a Fluted Black Elfin Saddle (Helvella lacunosa). It has a rather morbid color and shape and this has set me to wondering why mushrooms differ so much in appearance. Wildflowers are generally agreed to have evolved their shapes and colors to attract pollination agents such as bees. However, I've yet to hear a rationale for any of the variations in shape and color of mushrooms.

Hatley Castle Fall Colours

Here's a shot of Hatley Castle from the southern side of Esquimalt Lagoon. The castle now houses part of the administration for Royal Roads University, some of whose buildings can be seen behind the castle.