Challenge for Pictures in a Series: Motif or Concept Things that grow on leaves, rocks and trees! Mushroom, Toadstool Moss and Lichen

[Asher Kelman]

This was discovered at night!

What a surprise!

It’s edible if you don’t mind an unmeasured amount of bitter toxin and hallucinogen!

 

[Asher Kelman]

Here’s a close image:

It’s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_muscaria

 

[Jim Olson]

This was discovered at night!

View attachment 10190​

What a surprise!

It’s edible if you don’t mind an unmeasured amount of bitter toxin and hallucinogen!

I love going out in my yard and finding and shooting mushrooms.

Just did a quick Google search and I think my mushrooms are called "Sulphur tuft"
Also found ...
Hypholoma fasciculare, commonly known as the sulphur tuft or clustered woodlover, is a common woodland mushroom, often in evidence when hardly any other mushrooms are to be found. This saprotrophic small gill fungus grows prolifically in large clumps on stumps, dead roots or rotting trunks of broadleaved trees.

 

[Asher Kelman]

View attachment 10192
I love going out in my yard and finding and shooting mushrooms.

Just did a quick Google search and I think my mushrooms are called "Sulphur tuft"
Also found ...
Hypholoma fasciculare, commonly known as the sulphur tuft or clustered woodlover, is a common woodland mushroom, often in evidence when hardly any other mushrooms are to be found. This saprotrophic small gill fungus grows prolifically in large clumps on stumps, dead roots or rotting trunks of broadleaved trees.

I think your identification is reasonable! But can you shout wide so we can see the crowded clusters?

So this means you shouldn’t let your wife cook them for you as they are too bitter and after 5-6 hours the toxic effects would overwhelm you!

Asher

 

[Robert Watcher]

I know there are a few people who object to using Google Lens as search tool, because it serves up advertising…

…. but for identifying content like these fungi, it is a massive timesaver. Not sure if that is how you identified this species, Jim. In a couple of seconds, I pointed my iPhone camera at OPF on my iPad, using the Google App - and instantly the results. I actually find Google Lens even more useful in the field, where I can identify flora or fauna before I even take the pic with my camera. I’ll save a link to the results or more often than not, grab a screen shot for later insights, like this:

 

[Paul Iddon]

Fly agaric - wonderful to find for the colour.

I've seen few mushrooms and toadstools at all this year over here...

Paul.

 

[Jim Olson]

I know there are a few people who object to using Google Lens as search tool, because it serves up advertising…

…. but for identifying content like these fungi, it is a massive timesaver. Not sure if that is how you identified this species, Jim. In a couple of seconds, I pointed my iPhone camera at OPF on my iPad, using the Google App - and instantly the results. I actually find Google Lens even more useful in the field, where I can identify flora or fauna before I even take the pic with my camera. I’ll save a link to the results or more often than not, grab a screen shot for later insights, like this:

I love my Google Pixels phones. I have used Google lens for years.

 

[Asher Kelman]

See if you have moss on trees, lichen on rocks or anything else amazing!

 

[Jim Olson]

Here's a couple from today in my yard

 

[Asher Kelman]

Well I have some similar mushrooms.
Mine appears to be the “Slippery Jack”!

“This mushroom blooms in summer and autumn, usually near or beneath pine trees. It does well in cold climates, but can also be found further south all around the northern hemisphere. During moist weather, the slippery jack's caps become quite slimy, leading to their common name.

Toxicity
The slippery jack is a mildly to moderately poisonous mushroom, as consumption can cause mild to severe gastrointestinal upset in some people. The most common symptoms includes diarrhea followed by fatigue, which can appear 15 minutes after ingestion and persist for several days.

Habitat
The slippery jack is associated with coniferous trees, particularly pine and sometimes spruce. It feeds in a symbiotic relationship with the tree’s roots, helping it absorb water and nutrients while the tree provides it sugars and amino acids. This mushroom prefers cold, wet, and shaded areas beneath conifers.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Here's a couple from today in my yardView attachment 10203View attachment 10202

Jim,

​

Have you managed to identify this mushroom?

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

Hypholoma capnoides or “Smokey gilled woodlover” or “conifer tuft”

Jim,

This is my identification from the “Picture Mushroom” app

As its common name implies, the conifer tuft grows on dead conifers, either singly or in groups. It can be found around the northern hemisphere in the autumn season. Take care to distinguish this species from the highly toxic Sulphur Tuft. Inspect the gills closely; those of the conifer tuft are pale grey, and never green.

Toxicity
Generally considered poor-quality for eating, foraging for the conifer tuft is not recommended. Inexperienced mushroom hunters can easily mistake the conifer tuft for some other small-sized mushrooms that are poisonous. Some of its poisonous lookalikes are Hypholoma fasciculare (the sulphur tuft) and Galerina marginata (the funeral bell).

Habitat
The conifer tuft is a woodland mushroom associated with conifers, especially pines and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). The mushroom grows on dead or decaying wood, on stumps, logs, buried wood, or exposed roots of a conifer.

 

[Asher Kelman]

So far, nothing eatable!

Still, I don’t think it’s too wise to eat mushrooms based on the identification from an online app!!

 

[Mike (Petrochemist) Kanssen]

We had a club session shooting local fungi (including the Fly agaric & at least 4 other types) but I'm afraid the only relevant shots I have to hand are much older - Lichen on a wooden bench photographed nearly 12 years ago, and probably still there:


Litchen by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr


And just so mosses don't feel left out an IR+ shot of a flowering moss (growing on concrete, which I trust is close enough) about 9 years ago:

Flowering moss IR by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr


The BG3 filter (transmitting UV & IR with traces of blue) used makes the flowers more visible - they were exactly the same green as the rest to my eye.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Wow, Mike!

These are beautiful and almost unworldly inviting!

Asher

 

[Jim Olson]

One more from my yard.

 

[Jim Olson]

And Mitzy (Adventure Kitty) is helping me find mushrooms 🤣

 

[Jerome Marot]

Still, I don’t think it’s too wise to eat mushrooms based on the identification from an online app!!

I strongly advise against using an app to identify mushrooms. Mushrooms are highly variable in shape and color and people versed in identification do not solely rely on visual criteria to identify them.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Agreed, Jérôme!

It’s like sushi, that and mushrooms should only be obtained from sources that professional understand health requirements for their products!

Asher

 

[Jim Olson]

I grabbed the old Sigma 70-300mm to shoot today. Works good with my new R7.
The other images (from my first posts) I took with my cell phone

Question
There is a macro switch on the lens and I was shooting with the switch in macro. So are the 2 images really shot in marco

 

[Mike (Petrochemist) Kanssen]

Question
There is a macro switch on the lens and I was shooting with the switch in macro. So are the 2 images really shot in marco

The normal definition of macro is having the image on the negative/sensor that is life size or greater, yet most zooms that have macro plastered on them are incapable of reaching this unaided (or even getting moderately close).
I've seen photos of the moon taken with a macro lens, that photographers have considered to be macro shots!

Things got significantly muddied when marketing departments decided to use the normal size of a print as reference rather than the negative area. No doubt it helped sales of close focus lenses, but it didn't make them macro. Things have got further complicated by the multitude of sensor sizes in common use today, with a phone camera potentially having less than 1/10th the sensor size of a dedicated camera.

I believe the original distinction of macro as opposed to mere close up, comes from when life size is reached exposure correction becomes necessary due to increased bellows extension darkening the image. Below 1:1 films latitude is typically capable of coping with the gradual darkening as closer focus is required. Most cameras today use TTL metering that makes this correction automatic.

I don't think any of the images in this thread meet the definition of macro I gave above, though most would if they'd been shot on a 5x4 large format camera.

 

[Jim Olson]

The normal definition of macro is having the image on the negative/sensor that is life size or greater, yet most zooms that have macro plastered on them are incapable of reaching this unaided (or even getting moderately close).
I've seen photos of the moon taken with a macro lens, that photographers have considered to be macro shots!

Things got significantly muddied when marketing departments decided to use the normal size of a print as reference rather than the negative area. No doubt it helped sales of close focus lenses, but it didn't make them macro. Things have got further complicated by the multitude of sensor sizes in common use today, with a phone camera potentially having less than 1/10th the sensor size of a dedicated camera.

I believe the original distinction of macro as opposed to mere close up, comes from when life size is reached exposure correction becomes necessary due to increased bellows extension darkening the image. Below 1:1 films latitude is typically capable of coping with the gradual darkening as closer focus is required. Most cameras today use TTL metering that makes this correction automatic.

I don't think any of the images in this thread meet the definition of macro I gave above, though most would if they'd been shot on a 5x4 large format camera.

That's the best answer I have ever heard on macro. TNX for the heads up

 

[Jim Olson]

Close-up of Moss

 

[Jim Olson]

Almost

 

[Jim Olson]

Here's another mushroom from the yard and I'm not sure what happened but it looks like the cap has broken off and is laying over

 

[Asher Kelman]

Here's another mushroom from the yard and I'm not sure what happened but it looks like the cap has broken off and is laying over
View attachment 10257

That’s perhaps meant to be, (Thanks Mike, see below) Easier for the wind to blow away the spores!

But remember, other mycelia and bacterial
might also be growing on that stalk and break it down!

Asher

 

[Jim Olson]

In the yard today

 

[Mike (Petrochemist) Kanssen]

That’s perhaps meant to be. Easier for the wind to blow away the spores!

Asher

I assume the change above is what you meant to type (I believe 'autocorrect' turned it into mention).
However if the fruiting body is upright any spores falling off will be carried away by the wind in whatever direction it's heading. Once fallen over a much smaller subset of wind directions work.

Your other option (or even just a kick) seem more likely. The bent stalk does look a bit decayed...

 

[Jim Olson]

I was just walking around the yard last night about 5:30 and took another picture of some mushrooms. Imagine that 🤣

 

[Jim Olson]

I was in the yard today and found a lot of things to shot and post

Looks better underneath