Cleaning up the Woods!

  Behind the house far down below the cane brake, is a wooded area. This includes the creekbed that stems off of the Bayou.  The creek runs from miles up north of us and finally dwindles to a mere trickle through our place.  During especially rainy seasons, this trickle escalates into a full blown running creek.  I love it when it is like this.  Hearing the water as it splashes over the roots and moss mounds, watching  the water as it makes new rivulets around the clumps of palmettos and just knowing that my critter friends are thankful to have a ready drinking spot all makes for happy times.  This area is also home to a lot of downed tree limbs and even some entire trees.  It is not my habit to clear out the woods as these branches and logs make handy homes for so many creatures.  At times, though, the sheer amount of fallen debris makes it difficult to find a path if one wants to hike in the woods.  This is where Mother Nature takes control.

  Just recently, I wrote about the Turkey Tail Mushrooms.  These are just one of a bunch of mushrooms called the polypore mushrooms and are so called because they create spores in little tubelike structures instead of having gills.  Included in this group are the bracket fungi.  A bracket fungus sort of resembles an oyster shell plastered to the side of a tree or log.  Shelf fungus, bracket fungus, polypores...all are basically the same. The good news is that these mushrooms are sort of the janitors of the fungus world.  They help to clean up dead wood.  Bad news is that they can and do sometimes infect live trees.  But to be honest here, the live trees found with the fungus are, more than likely, already weakened from some other disease.  The fungus is merely hastening the demise of an otherwise unhealthy tree.  

  On our walk today, Mark and I found some bracket mushrooms growing on one of the Bay Trees that grow near the marsh edge.  While I am not sure of the identity of this fungus, it was quite interesting.  Near the marsh edge is the perfect spot for the mushrooms as it stays relatively damp and shady.  While I am saddened that our little Bay Tree is obviously going to meet its demise soon, I fully understand.  The constant battering from the extreme high tides and strong winds of late possibly have damaged the little tree beyond hope.  It is time for Mother Nature's janitors to get to work and clear the area.  In the meantime, I do think the mushrooms are quite pretty!