Not a Plant But Growing on One

I don't know what species of mushroom it is yet and perhaps never will, but from this vantage point it somewhat reminds me of a scallop shell.

The Aristocrat of Fungi--Amanita

After less rain than expected following the recent hurricane, at my feet this morning I found something that looks like it belongs in the dictionary as a picture next to the word mushroom.  I'm pretty sure it's an Amanita, which I have just learned was referred to as the aristocrat of fungi in a book published on American fungi over a century ago. Going beyond genus though is way beyond my mushroom identification skills.

End of May Morning Weather Report in Pictures

If I was on the news doing the weather I might say, "Well folks, it's looking sort of wet, pink and a bit mushroomy out there this morning".

The More You Look

the more you will see and it doesn't matter whether you dig mushroom hunting, are just beginning to identify trees by their leaf shape or have recently discovered that there are Tulip Tree samaras at your feet and above your head in the canopy in the fall. The point really is just to focus your attention, if even for just a moment, on even just the square foot of earth where you happen to be and see if you aren't knocked out by how much there is to name and know just a little better, and by how ridiculously beautiful it all is.

Hunting

Mycena corticola, possibly





















unidentified, possibly an Amanita sp.

Inspired by an impromptu mushroom identification lesson from Chris and Travis, the arborists, Anne and I multitasked while working on our projects and went hunting mushrooms. It's hard to say what ended up being more fun, checking out the colony of tiny mushrooms growing on the Weeping Cherry or finding what Travis calls the Smurf Mushroom or stalking the Great Blue Heron (Ardia herodias) in the Japanese Garden. Being at Brookylyn Botanic and gardening isn't just about the plants. It's incredible how much wildlife there is here in the city and in Brooklyn. You just have to be in the right place and open your eyes. Lucky for me this year that I am somewhere special and surrounded by people with wide open eyes and curiousity and knowledge. The only problem really is that there is just so much to know and learn. You start out wanting to grow your own tomatoes and next thing you know, you need a book on identifying mushrooms.

Wild edibles of the Native Flora

Steve Brill would have a field day in the Native Flora Garden right now. There's a giant edible "chicken of the woods" mushroom just begging to be harvested and fried up, though I think Uli will leave it for folks to ooh and aah at. It's a good thing because this mushroom is quite massive and vibrantly colored, really something to see. Any potential foraged-dinner plate could also contain edible tubers from Apios americana (the groundnut vine), although I think you'd have to wait until later in the season to harvest. This plant provided a staple tuber of the Native American diet and it is flowering fragrantly and beautifully right now in Native Flora. According to Peterson's Field Guide of Medicinal Plants of Eastern/Central North America, the tubers have 3 times the protein of potatoes and under cultivation a plant could produce 5 pounds of edible tubers. I read online that you can also eat the seed pods. I love how there's always something to discover every time you wander into Native Flora.



Flowers of Apios americana