ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Thursday 23 October 2014

CHANGE. (23/10/14)

It is still warm but very humid. I wasn’t very happy with yesterdays waterfall pictures so this morning I decided to go looking for fungi. They are well past their best but I did get one beauty so that cheered me up.

_V0G7546

_V0G7548     I tried to clean this up but bits kept falling off so I decided to leave well alone. I think it is an old Large Pine Polypore. Phaeolus schweinitzil. It was growing on a dead pine root. The pound coin is all I had for scale. Pounds are 22mm or 7/8” in diameter. It has an earthy smell.

_V0G7554

_V0G7555    This is an Orange Birch Bolete. Leccinum versipelle. I now think this is Brown Birch Bolete. Leccinum scabrum. Thanks again TREVOR. I now have it back in the van and have taken lots of pictures with my posh new electron microscope. Did I say electron? Yes I did; I meant electric. Most Boletes are edible but there are a couple that aren’t and I find them all difficult to identify so have never eaten one. None are deadly so next time I find more than one I’ll give them a try.

After an hour wandering about I was within a few hundred yards of the van when I found this.

_V0G7549

_V0G7550

_V0G7551      Birch Polypore. Piptoporus betulinus. It’s a cracking example and perfect. These are edible but very bitter and you wouldn’t want to eat one. They can be infused and the tea drunk if you find you have worms. Here is a young one.

_V0G7552

_V0G7553  All these were taken with a Canon 100mm macro lens and ring flash aperture was f11.

That’s all for today any corrections to my notoriously bad identifications will be gratefully received.

26 comments:

  1. As I have not got worms I shall not be searching for piptoporus betulinus...hang on a moment, my backside is itching....Oh no!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. YP, there will be lots of these up near Surprise View. You only need a bit of one for a cup of tea.

      Delete
    2. PS. Tape worm thrive on them. They much prefer polypore tea to roast beef.

      Delete
  2. You found some nice examples there Adrian, you have to be very lucky to beat the slugs and squirrels and find a perfect specimen.
    The fungi has been very scarce around these parts so far this year, perhaps they will start to appear now that it's a little damper?
    As a matter of interest try a Google search for Brown Birch Bolete (Leccinum scabrum) and see what you think against your photos...[;o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trevor, it hasn't been good for mushrooming so far.

      Brown Birch Bolete has the white pores but it has a parallel stem, I thought it was one as the underneath is very white and not orange..

      Delete
    2. Trevor, I will have a look for it tomorrow, I'll have to pick it to be sure.
      First-Nature says this.
      "Leccinum versipelle has a more orange cap and bruises blue-green in the stem base."

      Delete
  3. Nature's niches create such interesting creatures.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brilliant Adrian. I don't know anything about fungi except ordinary molds :) They seem interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ruby, there are interesting. I enjoy guessing what they are as even the same ones can vary between individual specimens.

      Delete
  5. Adriaan I did not know this, but I think they are beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Bas, they are beautiful. Usually there would be many more at this time of year but it looks as if it isn't a good year for them.

      Delete
  6. These brown mushrooms are rare here. I love the colors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maria, we have lots of different colours from blue to red. I just found brown ones today.

      Delete
  7. Fascinating images, I like the Birch Polypore

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Douglas, I enjoy guessing what fungi are called. Birch Polypore are very common, usually on dead birch but sometimes on live ones with broken branches.

      Delete
  8. I always knew you were a fun guy. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hilary, A dirty fun guy after lying in a wet wood.

      Delete
  9. I have deliberately ignored fungus. I ate fungus when my Dad picked. I now eat crap fungus from the grocery store. So thanks for some great photos and info on fungus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Red, most are edible but some will kill you and some though edible aren't worth eating. Most have to be cooked.

      Delete
  10. CJ would be quite envious of your finds and photos I think.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Graham, he still pops in now and again. I hope he is as well as can be expected.

      Delete
  11. Love all the macro shot . When I saw the fifth shot it looks like melted chocolate with Malteasers at the edge and in the next one, the chocolate is spilling over the edge!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Adrian, I like your subjects for the last few posts. They are such an interesting group to photograph. We don't get many varieties here. I wonder if any are edible. I think in a few years I'd like to take a class on the edibles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Here it is easiest to learn the lethal ones then disregard any lookalikes. There are about a dozen that taste nice but all should be cooked. Some like the meadow puffball taste fine but are not worth the hassle of peeling them.

      Delete