ABC Wednesday - M is for Mystified!

What in the world??  These are Stinkhorn Fungii.  The first three or four appeared at this location September 20.  We left for a week and upon our return, I found this amazing situation in this ONE site in this ONE area of our yard!  I am Mystified!!

I have only seen one or two at a time, before.  It seems, from my reading, stinkhorn fungi appear in composted soil and/or areas with commercial mulch (both of which appear in this little area, above).  Perhaps you have seen a round fungal ball under the soil?  I have seen these from time-to-time, with branching "rootlets."    These in-the-soil balls are the "seeds" of stinkhorn fungi.

You can read this and more general information about these fungi here.

I may be less mystified, but... not completely!! Perhaps some of our recent weather conditions have contributed to the Numerous appearance of these fungi?  (Yes, I have just read in other sources, that cool wet weather provides prime growing conditions for these fungi!)

Okay!  Mystified by the appearance of so many, but not as Mystified by why they have occurred.
SG  :-)

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Interesting Photos Taken August 2007

I need to do some research, but isn't this a grand photo?

Someone at UBC thought it could be Thelephora terrestris.
What do you think?



A cute little fellow. Again his name I know not...



This next little fellow and I have been introduced. We met earlier in the garden.
He is a Stinkhorn (Lysurus mokusin) You can probably guess why.
I found three of these this past Summer. Don't know as I'd ever seen one before!
My first posting shows a lurking fly.


I use a link to UBC Botanical Gardens for information about fungi. They are helpful. There's also a link on the sidebar. I will see if someone there can help me with my "unknowns." Perhaps you could help?? I'd be ever so grateful.

Rain, rain, rain! WOW!

Wednesday morning we woke up to 1.3" in the rain gauge. Yesterday (Thursday) there was 1.9" in the rain gauge (yes, I'm emptying it every morning!). This morning (Friday) there was 3.6" in the gauge. And we hadn't been experiencing a dry spell.

Pretty crazy.

There had been a LOT of runoff...

My neighbors and I hit the ground running early this morning!
Water has a way of intruding where it hasn't been invited.
They had need of a wet vac, towels, and fans.

Later, we checked out waterways, drainage and the roadway. (The latter needed
a little "recompositioning."

Next, I picked up sticks and hickory nuts that had fallen all over the yard.
Three loads to the ravine! ;-)

I found this little guy in the front yard -
a Fall Webworm larva.
Click on his name for information about him.
Actually, he'd been abandoned after I'd picked up his home
and many, many of his siblings, and deposited them in my wheelbarrow.
After being reunited, they all received a free ride to the ravine.
But... there are always treasures!

Such as the following fungi.
(Note the blades of grass... these are very small specimen.)

This little stink horn had obviously had it.
He had fallen over; looking pretty gruesome to boot.
All in a morning's work.

Fungus Among-us!

Can you identify the following fungii?. Actually, I think it's a Stinkhorn fungi (Lysurus mokusin). The photograph below isn't the best one, but I couldn't resist posting it. Check out the fly! (It'll give you an idea of the size of the fungus.) There were actually two of them in the front yard this morning!


This second was a doozy, too. (What is it??? Anyone know?)Since I'll be out of town for a few days, I won't be adding new posts... but I'll be taking plenty of pictures! ;-)

Nothin' shady about that!