My Strange LifeMy Strange Life August Mushrooms August Mushroom

Fungi spends most of its life beneath the surface. In late summer through autumn it emerges as a mushroom bearing a cap and spore-bearing body. I took these photos near the Smithville Reservoir in New Ipswich, NH.

Scarlet Waxcap Mushroom (Hygrocybe coccinea) — A photo of a Scarlet Waxcap Mushroom (Hygrocybe coccinea) taken in 2017 near the Smithville Reservoir. Photo taken at 1/125 Sec f/3.5 60 mm ISO 1250.

In 2009 I attended a talk by Dr. Rick Van de Poll called “More Mushroom Merriment”. He spent some of talk telling stories of merry stories about accidental poisonings, including some by experts who made bad choices.

Photo below shows Rick holding a jack-o’-lantern mushroom (Omphalotus olearius) , a bioluminescent and poisonous specimen.

Omphalotus illudens — Dr. Rick Van de Poll’s 19th “More Mushroom Merriment” lecture and fungal foray at the Harris Center in Hancock. Rick is principal of Ecosystem Management Consultants and an adjunct instructor at Antioch University New England

The photos below were taken on August 9, 2018 on my daily walk in New Ipswich.

Scarlet Waxcap Mushroom (Hygrocybe coccinea) — A 2018 photo of a Scarlet Waxcap Mushroom (Hygrocybe coccinea) taken near Smithville Reservoir in New Ipswich.

I won’t even attempt to guess the species of these mushroom. As far as I’m concerned they are subjects for photographs, not the dinner plate.

Ragged Mushroom — Nasty looking pool of water in the cap of a mushroom. One can only imagine how toxic this might be

Fungi — Fungi popping up through the leaf litter near Smithville Reservoir in New Ipswich, NH.

Unidentified Fungi — Fungi growing at base of a gray birch near the Smithville Reservoir.

Toadstools — Macro photo of toadstools seen growing near the Smithville Reservoir.

Dining on Fungi — I noticed a wispy fungi growing on a mushroom. On the wisps i saw small insects presumably dining on the fungi. Nature is amazing.

Gilled Mushroom — Macro photograph of a mushroom growing in the lawn, showing spore bearing gills on the underside of the cap

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