Fruiting Bodies

What we normally think of as individual mushrooms like those above are generally most likely the fruiting bodies of a mycelium somewhat like the flowers on a tree branch. But the mycelium is a mass of thread-like fibres below ground rather than a branch or stem. Not all mycelia produce fruiting bodies. It takes two compatible mycelia to join together to give rise to fruiting bodies such as mushrooms. Some of these mycelia are very small but others, according to Wikipedia, are very large.

...the largest organism in the world? This 2,400-acre (9.7 km2) site in eastern Oregon had a contiguous growth of mycelium before logging roads cut through it.Estimated at 1,665 football fields in size and 2,200 years old, this one fungus has killed the forest above it several times over, and in so doing has built deeper soil layers that allow the growth of ever-larger stands of trees. Mushroom-forming forest fungi are unique in that their mycelial mats can achieve such massive proportions.
—Paul Stamets, Mycelium Running

Shaggy Mane Mushrooms

I am enjoying mushroom season. When I went to Thetis Lake Regional Park on Saturday (our first sunny day in about a week) I crawled around in the undergrowth for a few hours photographing very tiny mushrooms and when finally exhausted and sated I trudged back to the parking lot I was rewarded with a grove of Shaggy Mane Mushrooms within a few steps from the parking lot.

Mushroom With a View

Sincere apologies to E. M. Forster, but I couldn't resist.

Toadstool Tuesday

Mushroom or Toadstool? I used to think there was some kind of distinction between the two and that only I was ignorant of the difference. However, a little research indicates that the vagueness in my mind is simply a reflection of the actual state of affairs. Regardless of what some people may think, there is no clearcut distinction between mushrooms and toadstools. One person's mushroom may be another person's toadstool. Toadstool is certainly the more picturesque of the two terms but in the past it has been associated with poisonous fungi and it seems that it is fading out of use. These fungi were photographed in Thetis Lake Regional Park.

Willows Beach

Another one of Victoria's favorite places for a stroll is Cattle Point, where these photos were taken looking towards Willows Beach. The sun bathers and sand castle builders are gone but there are still lots of folks out walking their dogs in the crisp November sunshine. - Fern