out hunting for fungi on rotting stumps

this collection of wood rotting fungi is my contribution to FungiFriday by ewkaw

even when there are almost no fungi to be found in the forest you can probably still find sulfur tufts Hypholoma fasciculare growing on rotting wood, especially on old stumps.

there can be hundreds of them all clustered together from early spring to the onset of winter

i found this single deer shield Pluteus cervinus growing right in the middle of a tiny cluster

sulphur tufts are bitter tasting and poisonous. typically with a dark center and light edges but they vary considerably in color depending on the conditions

as opposed to the delicious sheathed woodtuft
Kuehneromyces mutabilis which also grows in clusters on rotting wood. but they have lighter centers with darker edges

funeral bell or deadly skullcap Galerina marginata can also be mistaken for sheathed woodtuft. as the name suggests it is extremely toxic so that could be a fatal mistake.

but these rusty gilled polypores Gloeophyllum sepiarium seem to tolerate its presence

whatever part of the world you live in you probably have found some artist's bracket or artist's fungus Ganoderma applanatum on your searches. young ones that are white and clean underneath are fun to pick and etch out a design on.

this one we picked more than 15 years ago. my wife was the artist back then but i just took the photo today.