The Last Day Of August

I was out extra early this morning for my hike.  That’s a mighty good idea during the summer, since there are rain showers or thunderstorms so often in the afternoons.  This summer that has certainly been the case.  It has been much more rainy than a normal summer, and I’ve gotten good and drenched a couple times!

So Many Mushrooms!

I can’t say what a normal summer of mushrooms is, since this is only the first summer I’ve been keeping an eye on Mother Nature up here, but it really seems like we’ve got quite a plethora of these amazing things.  I’ve been amazed at the variation of color in the mushrooms.  Seems like every color of the rainbow is represented.

A Few Days Ago A New Color

A few days ago, I came upon a new color, one that I had never seen in a mushroom before — turquoise!  I took photos and came home to find that I had not gotten the focus just right.  Another trip up the mountain brought the same results.  These mushrooms are very tiny – about 1/4 inch across and focusing is a challenge but today, success!  Yay!

Blue-Green Wood Stain

As you can see in the photo captions, these mushrooms are Blue-green Wood Stain Mushrooms, Chlorociboria aeruginascens.  The book I often use for mushroom identification, Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians, by William C. Roody, says that actually finding the fruiting body (or what we call the mushroom) is a bit unusual.  What is normally seen is just the stained wood, as in the picture above.  Interesting!  And another beautiful mushroom color!