With all of the rainy weather we have had this summer, there are some pretty funky looking mushrooms growing about the yard. One expects that. Let there be some type organic material (mulch, leaf litter, dirt, whatever), a bit of moisture and some heat and you have fungi. Some of these mushrooms look pretty but are dangerous. Some have a not so nice appearance but are supposedly edible. There are also some that are just downright strange.
One such strange mushroom decided to grow in an equally strange place. Mark and Son have been doing a lot of work on the house and have left the scaffolding in place so they do not have to lug it out every day. It was on that scaffolding that a weird little mushroom decided to grow. While the innocuous looking little thing may seem innocent, it is eating the scaffolding board. Uh, oh! Say what? Yep. Mushrooms and fungi are sort of like garbage disposals. They decompose organic materials. The presence of this mushroom probably means that the board is starting to decompose or rot. This is not good when you consider that two men will be standing on that scaffolding board. Now consider that there is not a lot that can be done to remedy the situation as the spores have already infiltrated the wood. There is to be a mushroom garden riding high above the ground on the scaffolding.
I am no mycologist by far. I can recognize a very few different types and know enough to not carelessly handle unknown mushrooms. That is about it. So....I tried to look up about this strange mushroom. Since I needed a description, I figure color would be a start. I looked up "black topped mushroom" and was immediately bombarded with stories of mushrooms pushing through asphalt. Not quite what I wanted. So...I tried again with "mushroom with black cap" and received dozens of sets of instructions on how to crochet a mushroom shaped cap. Again, not what I had in mind. After several tries, I found an image that was almost an exact copy but the mushroom grew in the Guadalupe Mountains. No where did it say that it could be found here and, imagine this, it was called a "Blacktop Mushroom". Well, duh! I knew that! Sort of. Anyway, I still am no closer to identifying our scaffolding mushroom than I was when I found it. That said, I will leave it be and definitely NOT have it for supper.
With the hikes being cut short for a while, I have to find points of interest in a small area of the yard. While the old dog rests, I can get up close and personal with whatever is in the nearby (approximately ten ft in diameter) circle of "wilderness". If I get further away, Mr. PJ panics so I tend to talk to him while exploring the mini world around me. This morning, that world was drippy as a heavy fog had settled in from the Bay.
Just as I was about to think there was nothing to pique the interest, a lovely, white mushroom was spied. Ok! Now there is a thing of beauty and right beneath my feet! Not fretting over wet knees, I knelt to get a good look at the mushroom. Hmmm, I am definitely not a mycologist so I had no idea if this was one of those "bad" mushrooms or not. Better be on the safe side and not fiddle with it too much. So, I photographed it and pondered a few questions. One....is there a difference between a toadstool and a mushroom? Seriously now. A toadstool has a much more imaginative name. Think about it...toadstool...toad (as in frog) and stool (as in bench). Cute name but, to be honest, I have never seen a toad (nor a frog) sitting atop a mushroom. I saw a grasshopper sitting on one once but never a toad. Perhaps the name is a lot like that of frogs and toads whereas all toads are frogs but all frogs are not toads. Make sense? Nah. Are all toadstools mushrooms? Actually, the names are interchangeable scientifically but not commonly. It is the common idea that poisonous mushrooms are toadstools...except locally...then stinky mushrooms are toadstools. Which opens another whole can of worms (if worms came in cans). Perhaps the idea of a toadstool being a frog bench is going the wrong way. If you use the lesser used definition of each word, the stinky part may be logical. Toad (as in despicable person) and stool (as in feces) could be translated into stinky mushroom and might just well be a toadstool. Ok...so maybe I should not have gone there.
Second question...in folklore, mushrooms of all kinds are used as tables in Faerie Land. Now, not knowing which mushrooms are poisonous, how in the world were faeries not killed off by eating from these fine tables. In every depiction that I have ever seen, the mushroom tables highly resemble poisonous fungi. (Like I said earlier, I am no mycologist and do not pretend to know anything about these things but, from looking at photos, this one surely resembles a Destroying Angel..TOXIC!! Maybe??) And speaking of using the mushrooms as tables, this one has the appearance of being used just as such. There is a piece of an empty hickory nut shell sitting right in the middle of the cap. Could that have been the remnants of a meal?? Lets just hope the faeries of the Bayou were not poisoned last night as they dined by moonlight.
Lastly, why do I find these things so fascinating? While I have no interest in running about gathering mushrooms to eat, I do adore the fact that I find them growing just about everywhere. I will leave the identifying to the experts (who I truly admire!) and just enjoy the beauty as I find them. And...the old dog says it is time to get in out of the fog. He is right. The imagination has run far enough.
It sounds like it should be the name of some trendy coffee shop or maybe a cute little dress shop but, in reality, I am referring to a real, live mushroom. It is one of those funny little things that you notice when out on a hike but never really know what it is. Of course, I realize it is a mushroom but I have no clue as to its true identity. I am not a mycologist which is just a long word for someone who looks at mushrooms and other fungi. Still, the mushroom in question is interesting enough to have caught my eye and bring back a memory from years ago. Blue mushrooms are like that. They demand attention if for no other reason than they are blue. I am not accustomed to seeing blue mushrooms so when one pops up, I have to examine it. After my eyeing the thing for a few moments, I came to the conclusions that, yep, it was a mushroom and, yep, it was blue. Enough of my endeavor as a mycologist.
The story that was brought to mind by the mushroom was from years ago when the kids were small. When in the third grade, my oldest son wanted to do a science project for school. He decided that he might enjoy mycology so he started a studying the things and did a bunch of drawings for his project. A few days before it was due, he started a massive search for mushrooms. His project was going to be "the best ever". We built a large, flat box and filled it with a layer of soft peat moss. He dug up all sorts of mushrooms and planted them in his special garden. The thing actually was sort of pretty and reminded me of one of my aunt's fairy gardens. The day before he was to bring his project to school, he found a prize mushroom! It was blue!! He had never seen a blue mushroom before and wanted to put this grand piece in his collection. He raced to the house to get his trowel and a dish to transport the mushroom. While he gathered his tools, he excitedly told the rest of the family of his cherished mushroom. It was going to be the one that put his project over the top! We all traipsed out to the yard to be a part of the gathering. As he pointed out his find, we congratulated him. Well, all of us except for his little sister. Darling Daughter decided that the mushroom was not THAT special so she stepped on it. EGAD!!! The thing was flattened by the tiny foot! Son was devastated but his little sister was oblivious to the damage she had done.
The destruction of the prized piece of the project did not daunt my son, though. He proudly finished the project and brought it to school. His teacher helped him to set up the display among all of the other projects. It looked amazing! Surely, he would do well. Then....along came one teacher who looked aghast! "Get that thing out of here!!!" she screeched. Right then and there, she disqualified the project. "Those are deadly!" Son was shaken but not broken. He tried to explain to this frantic lady that he researched the mushrooms carefully and none were poisonous. She was having no part of it. His project had to be removed from the premises even though we suggested sealing it in a plexiglass box. "NOPE...NO WAY...NEVER! That thing has got to go!" she shrieked. So the project was doomed before the judges even made their way into the building. I carted the project back to the house with a very dejected little boy in tow.
I sat on the ground next to the blue mushroom and thought of how a crushed mushroom so many years ago was so tied to the crushed hopes of a little boy who only wanted to study the things. Perhaps his little sister had a premonition about the science fair and crushed the blue mushroom in hopes that she would spare her brother a lot of pain. I doubt it. It was more likely that she just wanted to flat out step on the thing and had no higher motives at all. Maybe, however, her stepping on the thing squished out the spores and planted mushrooms over the hillside. This one is probably a distant relative of that very first one that Son found. Hmmm, maybe?
