Fungi 2010

[Olga Bondareva]

Frog's dinner.  
(fungus Crucibulum laeve)



Big family...

[Armin]

Bob,
your fungus is a mystery. I've no idea.
If it is coarse sand what does it feed from?

[Ragged Robin]

Olga your 'Frog's Dinner' is an absolutely enchanting shot beautifully caught by you and I love the 'Big Family' of fungus too.

Isn't it amazing that you can even go to the same place in the forest and see so many different things appearing one after another in the Seasons 

[ranunculus]

Olga your 'Frog's Dinner' is an absolutely enchanting shot beautifully caught by you and I love the 'Big Family' of fungus too.

Isn't it amazing that you can even go to the same place in the forest and see so many different things appearing one after another in the Seasons 

I totally agree Robin ... superb images from a master photographer!

[ichristie]

Hi all, can anyone tell me why I have so many puff balls here they are everywher, I know the weather has been wet but this is a bit much, cheers Ian the christie kind

[cohan]

Frog's dinner.  
(fungus Crucibulum laeve

Big family...

great shots!

[Gail]

Hi all, can anyone tell me why I have so many puff balls here

Can't tell you why but a friend of mine has lots and sells them to her local restaurant - gets quite a good price for them!

Interesting puffball link here - http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Mushrooms.Folder/Puffball%20Overview.html

[Paul T]

Interesting that they're edible.  If I'm reading it correctly, as long as it is still pure white inside then they can do you no harm?  But once they start to go yellow or if they have a slime layer or gills inside then you shouldn't eat them?  Sounds like they're good in cooking, but are they eaten raw as well, like normal mushrooms?

[Stephenb]

Re- Puffballs, I've eaten them a lot and really like them, but I always cook them. You do have to be very CAREFUL though, because to the unexperienced a puffball can be mistaken for the DESTROYING ANGEL and DEATH CAP. You won't get a chance of learning from your experiences. See the comparison towards the bottom of this page (both are also found in Europe):
http://americanmushrooms.com/edibles3.htm

By the way, it has been advised here not to eat ordinary mushrooms raw due to some suspect chemicals which are heat sensitive and the possibility of pathogens from the growing medium (manure).

Fantastic pictures again, Olga  - I have a picture of a Frog next to a puffball taken in Fiji many years ago, but no scanner (slide)!

Here's a mixed bag from the woods with a puffball, bottom left:

[Graham Catlow]

Had a bit of an invasion. I think the beech logs probably have something to do with them.

Graham

[TheOnionMan]

Had a bit of an invasion. I think the beech logs probably have something to do with them.

Graham

Yikes, that's scary!  Do you know whether they are edible?   

[Stephenb]

Could be what we call Stubbeskjellsopp (literally Stump Shell Mushroom) or in English, the Sheathed Woodtuft - see here for a description and close up of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuehneromyces_mutabilis; although edible, it's not recommended due again to a poisonous look-alike...

[Graham Catlow]

I generally don't eat anything that doesn't come out of a supermarket
Graham

[Stephenb]

I generally don't eat anything that doesn't come out of a supermarket
Graham

Now, that's scary! I generally don't eat anything that does come out of a supermarket!  

[Tony Willis]

Had a bit of an invasion. I think the beech logs probably have something to do with them.

Graham

Graham we get those in hundreds around the stump of an old apple we had cut down. After a couple of days we find they disintegrate into a mass of slime before disappearing.