It is always cool to see the different shapes and colors of wild mushrooms. Many people take to the woods to forage for mushrooms but many varieties are toxic. It amazes me how animals have to ability to know what is safe to eat and what is not. But I have heard of domesticated animals, especially dogs getting sick from eating mushrooms. If ever venturing out to forage be sure to properly identify the species before picking.

It appears to me that this mushroom is Pholiota Squarrosoides. They grow singly and in dense clusters on deciduous trees like beech, birch, maple and alder. They are a common mushroom that is widely distributed throughout North America from August to October.

Rogers Mushrooms Website to learn more about this and other mushrooms

 

On a Free Ranging run with the WooFPAK, WooFDriver came across this mushroom that appears to me to be of the same variety in a lighter shade?? I am not sure of that because the Shaggy Scalycap grows out of wood and this one is growing on the ground.

On several occasions while Free Ranging running through the woods the WooFPAK came across these mushrooms appear to me to be what is also known as “Chicken of the Woods” or Sulfur Shelf Mushroom (Laetiporus Sulphureus) A group of stacked semi-wrinkled shelves on various tree species, many say it tastes like chicken, as it is named. Their flesh is yellow to orange white. These mushrooms can be watery upon collecting from trees. Of course, I would not eat them unless very sure I have them correctly identified!!

Wikipedia’s Webpage for more information on this variety of mushroom.

Please enjoy this album of the mushrooms the WooFPAK found!

This is called a Hedge-apple, Osage-orange, or Horse-apple. It is wild looking. We ran into these all over the ground along a spot on Skyline Drive in The Shenandoah National Park. They caught a lot of people’s attention because of their rather large size and peculiar look. I photographed this in the Fall of 2005. Read more about this Horse-apple at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera

Really bright in color, caught this at the end of winter amongst the fallen leaves. We were on a WooFDriver Tour Adventure on The Lower Trail near Altoona Pennsylvania. This was on March 07, 2012.

I believe these to be Scarlet Elf Caps (Sarcoscypha coccinea). This fungus grows on decaying sticks and branches in damp spots on forest floors, usually buried under leaf litter or in the soil. The brilliant red cup-shaped fruit bodies are usually produced during the cooler months of winter and early spring.

Wikipedia Webpage to learn more about this mushroom