looduskalender.ee

 

05.09.2012

 

A mysterious cotton wool tuft on a tree trunk. Who it is needs further investigation

 

A great number of fungi are such whose names you will find in a good mushroom handbook. The chanterelle, the ugly milk-cap (Lactarius turpis) and the shaggy ink cap or lawyer’s wig (Coprinus comatus) are mushrooms that even a novice mushroom enthusiast can recognize. Distinguishing the species of boletes, lactariuses and russulas already takes an experienced eye. But a great number of fungi are such that cannot be found in a common handbook and for whom finding a name makes even experienced mushroom experts scratch their heads.

 

In magnification the cotton tuft separates into a maze of white threads

 

One of those we found today in the Pähni forest on a fallen tree. The rounded little bump as seen from afar turns into a hedgehog-like hairy cotton wool tuft on closer view. In magnification a bunch of white threads stare at you. This fascinating fungus remained waiting for a name for itself.

But even seemingly simple mushrooms can surprise. Who does not know the red fly agaric? But sometimes the red fly agaric can instead be yellow and orange-coloured. But all who join the Rõuge mushroom excursions and carefully study the mushroom exhibition become ever better friends with the mushrooms.

 

Red fly agarics may also be yellowish-orange