Another group of mushrooms are bracket or shelf fungi. They can be just as colorful as the mushrooms in the last post and are usually easier to find because they usually grow up off the ground on trees, stumps, and logs.
In my last post I told how I had stumbled upon the biggest mushroom I had ever seen, which was a chicken of the woods (Laetiporus Cincinnatus.) The very day that I wrote that, I found another chicken of the woods growing at the base of a tree not 10 feet from the road. This one was even bigger than the first-easily as big as a car tire-so I put a quarter on it to give you an idea of scale. You have to look closely-this one is so big that it makes the quarter look like a dime. 
I think these are hairy stereum bracket fungi, also called hairy curtain crust (Stereum hirsutum.) The common name comes from the way these fungi are covered with fine hairs on their upper surface when young. As they age they lose the hairs and become smooth like other bracket fungi. Colors can vary but the hairs and very wavy edges help with identification. They like to grow on fallen deciduous trees and are one of the false turkey tail fungi. False turkey tail fungi are a polypore, which basically means they have pores instead of gills. 
This mushroom was growing on a stump and it was quite large. I think it might be a tiger sawgill (Lentinus tigrinus.) Apparently the name refers to the scales on the cap that are supposed to resemble a tiger like pattern. Tigers have stripes and to me the scales look more like spots, so shouldn’t it be a leopard sawgill? The Lentus part of the scientific name means tough or pliant. When this mushroom grows on a living deciduous tree it causes white rot, and that means the tree is finished. 
I think this might be another hairy stereum (Stereum hirsutum) bracket fungus just getting started. It’s interesting to see how it seems to flow out from under the bark almost as if it were liquid rather than solid. I’m not sure what its little friend wanted, but he might have been looking for some lunch. 
I think these might be white cheese polypores (Tyromyces chioneus.) This is another bracket fungus that causes white rot. They start life soft, watery, and velvety and then yellow slightly and become hard and smooth. When very old they look shriveled or wrinkled. Their common name comes from their scientific name- Tyromyces means “with a cheesy consistency,” and chioneus means “snow white.” I’m not sure if these had a cheesy consistency, but they were certainly snow white. 
Some bracket fungi have gills on their undersides, some have pores, and some are “toothed” with many tiny spines. True turkey tail fungi (Trametes versicolor) have pores and false turkey tails have a smooth brown surface. That’s the easiest way to tell the two apart. The Stereum ostrea pictured here (I think) is a false turkey tail. These fungi live on hardwood logs and cause white rot. The one pictured here was quite young. Often age and even where the fungus grows will cause variations in size, shape and color in bracket fungi. 
The thin dark strip before the white edge leads me to believe that this is a Ganoderma applanatum, which is called artist’s fungus, artist’s conk, or artist’s polypore. The art comes in when the white flesh is scratched and the scratches turn a light brown color. I have one that I drew a picture on over 30 years ago. I can’t be positive that’s what it is though because the colors vary so much and I didn’t test this one to see if its flesh was brown / cinnamon colored. This one was quite big-about the size of a dinner plate. 
These look orange brown to me. Identifying them has proven much harder than it should be, but I think they might be another example of hairy stereum bracket fungi (Stereum hirsutum.) These fungi have such variable colors and shape that it’s hard to know for sure. 
I got a little frustrated at not being able to see the colors of these fungi accurately so I just this minute found a shareware program called “What Color.” You just put the cursor on a color and it tells you what it is. So far, it seems accurate. In these turkey tails (Trametes versicolor) it sees tan, dark khaki, thistle (purple,) plum (darker purple,) light slate gray, olive green, dark sea green, steel blue, light steel blue, rosy brown, and sienna. That seems like an awful lot of colors. I think tan with light purple edges would do. 
This bracket fungus reminds me of those old balloon tires with wide white walls. I think this might be called the red banded polypore (Fomitopsis pinicola.) If it is, the top reddish part of the fungus will become one in several bands of yellows, reds, orange-reds and finally black nearest the tree. Rust red is the band color farthest from the tree. Its white flesh turns yellow when bruised. Red banded polypore is said to grow on over 100 species of trees. Another very similar fungus is the resinous polypore (Ischnoderma resinosum) 
These horse hoof shaped fungi are called tinder polypore (Fomes fomentarius)because of their age old use as tinder to start fires. In the middle ages strips of these fungi were used in flintlock rifles. A spark from a flint would ignite the tinder polypore, which in turn would ignite the gunpowder. The Cree tribe of Native Americans also used these fungi to carry coals from one place to another. Tinder polypores produce huge amounts of spores; measurements in the field have shown that they release as many as 800 million spores per hour in the spring and summer! They grow on dead deciduous trees and logs. I found 30 or more marching up a dead maple one day. 
The shareware color finding program sees dark salmon pink in these turkey tails, along with greens, browns, and grays. I would have said brown with a white edge. Many of the turkey tails I saw last winter had a lot of purples and blues in them but so far this year they lean more toward browns and tans. I wish I could find information on what causes the colors in bracket fungi-I wonder if cold affects color. 
My color finding software says saddle brown nearest the tree, then 100% gray on the body, and then white on the outer edge. I can agree with that. I can’t find this mushroom in either of my books, which illustrates how sometimes the most common looking mushrooms are the hardest to identify. 
According to the color finding software the colors found in these are light blue, lavender, light steel blue, saddle brown, sea green, olive green, slate gray, light cyan, Alice blue, azure, tan, and sienna. I’m amazed how many colors can be found in turkey tails (Trametes versicolor.) And these are the plain ones!
Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom ~ Thomas Carlyle
Thank you for having a look.
This is probably the most easily recognized mushroom and the one that most frequently pops into people’s minds when they think of mushrooms. I’ve seen many yellow ones but this is the first red fly agaric (Amaita muscaria) that I’ve seen. I was surprised at such a deep, deep red that almost looked maroon to me. It is quite a different red than the scarlet hood mushroom above. This mushroom is toxic.
This was hands down the largest mushroom I’ve ever seen, so I put a quarter on it to give you an idea of the scale. This giant was growing on a log buried in the soil and was probably close to a foot and a half across. I can’t imagine what it must have weighed. I think it is a chicken of the woods (Laetiporus Cincinnatus.)
Another shot of the chicken of the woods. These looked more like gigantic turkey tails than anything to do with chickens, but it is said they taste like chicken. I wonder what hen of the woods tastes like? These ones stood about knee high and I had to gather my wits about me and tell myself that I really was seeing such big mushrooms. After seeing microscopic slime molds and tiny mushrooms for a couple of days, these were quite a surprise! 
I’m seeing a lot of coral mushrooms now too. I think this one might be crown coral (Clavicorona pyxidata) but I can’t be sure because of the color. It looks pink to me but it could be white, gray, or tan. I’ll let any new readers in on a secret: I’m color blind, and when it comes to certain colors like blue and purple or orange/yellow/red sometimes I can’t tell what I’m looking at. Light pinks are another shade I have trouble with, but if these are indeed pink than they could be the crown coral mushroom, pink tipped coral, or clustered coral. There is a jelly fungus called false coral fungus but it is said to be tough, dry, and non-gelatinous. This one felt soft and pliable like a mushroom. It was about as big around as a coffee cup. 
Another coral mushroom is clustered coral (Ramaria botrytis,) identified by its habit of bruising brown and having pink or brown tips. It is short, dense and pink to purplish. It is also very brittle and breaks easily. Many people say this mushroom looks like cauliflower when it is young. Older plants have longer branches like those shown here.
This mushroom looked far pinker in the woods than it does here. It looks slightly brownish in the photo but still has the translucence that made me stop and wonder about it. Unfortunately it’s another one that is tough to identify, but I think it might be a lilac bonnet (Mycena pura.) The lilac bonnet is said to have a strong, radish like odor but I didn’t smell it. Its color is also said to be extremely variable and it usually has splits in its cap.
This one I don’t have trouble with as far as color goes because I can see that it’s brown and black. What I am having trouble with is knowing exactly what it is. I’m not sure if it is a brown jelly fungus or if it is some type of mushroom that is past its prime. Brown jelly fungi usually look ear or brain-like instead of like the above example, but they turn black as they dry out. In any event this post is supposed to be more about color than anything else and brown is well represented in jelly fungi, bracket fungi, and mushrooms.
These could be brown and white but I see maroon and white with a velvety texture. These were very difficult to even begin to get a fix on as far as identification goes, but after much searching I think they might be the Earth Fan (Thelephora terrestris.) I think this is one of the prettiest mushrooms I’ve seen, but I’ve also seen pictures of an indigo blue one (Thelephora indigo) that is so beautiful I can’t even begin to describe it.
Finding these club or flat topped coral mushrooms (Clavariadelphus truncatus) is always a pleasant surprise. They aren’t very big but their colors are usually quite bright and that makes them easy to see. My mushroom book says that these are widespread but uncommon. Other than that, finding reliable information on these mushrooms is difficult.
At the start of this post I said that I had been seeing little orange mushrooms all over the place. At first I thought these might be slime mold fruiting bodies but no-they were mushrooms. I saw a few logs with colonies like this one and many more little orange mushrooms growing on the ground, so I must have seen thousands this day on a three hour hike. They are beautiful things to see.
Someone thought the flowers of Chelone glabra looked like turtle heads but I’m not really seeing it. I have to admit though, that I don’t see many turtles. In any case they don’t look like any other flower that blooms at this time and are very easy to identify. Bumblebees pollinate these flowers. They are an excellent choice for a woodland garden because deer and other herbivores don’t usually eat the bitter foliage. 
The bright colors on this blister beetle (Coleoptera) warn potential predators of its poisonous nature. The bug secretes a poisonous substance called cantharidin that, it is said, can blister skin. This one was happily munching on this red clover (Trifolium pretense) blossom. I wasn’t in ready to find out if it really could blister skin so I left it alone.
If you look at the flower clusters of goldenrod (Solidago) closely you can see the often bypassed beauty of each individual blossom.
Wild senna (Cassia hebecarpa) is a native plant that is rarely seen in the wild here in the Northeast and is listed as threatened or endangered. They say this is primarily due to loss of habitat. The leaves and seed pods of wild senna contain compounds called anthraquinones, which are powerful laxatives, so deer leave it alone. I have this plant in my yard to attract butterflies and bees and also because I like the yellow flowers with their hairy pistils and dark brown anthers. 
I’ve had a hard time getting close to this floating bladderwort (Utricularia radiate) but finally, after 2 months, I got close enough to get a decent photo and its flower was closed! Oh well-you’ll have to trust me when I say that the small yellow, snapdragon-like flower is unusual and beautiful. What I really wanted to point out about the plant are the unusual leaf stalks (petioles) that have evolved into floats. In the fall the plant forms what are called winter buds on its underwater stems. These buds and bits of stem are all that survive the winter on the pond bottom. In spring when the water warms they inflate and float to the surface where they start to grow into new plants. These plants float in ponds and slow moving streams and trap insects in underwater bladders.
I found this forget-me-not (Myosotis scorpioides) growing on a river bank. Books tell me that the plant grows naturally on the banks of streams and rivers, but this is the only time I’ve ever seen one there in spite of spending over 50 years exploring such places. There are over 50 species of forget-me-nots; some are native to North America and some are European natives.
At first I thought this plant was northern bugleweed (Lycopus uniflorus) but I can’t find any reference to reddish leaves and dark purple stems for that plant. Instead, it must be the very similar looking taper leaf water horehound (Lycopus rubellus.) Its description includes both reddish leaves and stems which can be more purple than green, especially when it grows in bright light. Both plants love wet soil and are good wetland indicators. I found this one growing in full sun on a riverbank in a place that is often covered by water. I’ve seen it countless times but have really never paid it any attention.
Next time I see these-what I think are jelly babies-I’ll have to damage one to look under the cap to see if it has gills. These and those in the previous picture could be Cudonia circinans if they are pale brown to ochre, have thin flesh and are not gelatinous. To make matters even more confusing, there is another similar fungus called bog beacon.
Sometimes plant breeders overdo it, I think. Though I’m sure a lot of people love this bicolor phlox (Phlox paniculata,) it’s not really my cup of tea. The leaves on this one were also showing signs of drought stress. Phlox are usually carefree but this dryness has s changed that. 
I don’t dislike all bicolor flowers. This purple and white morning glory grows on a chain link fence at the local post office and I think it is a beauty. I’ve seen people call this plant “Ipomoea indica” on various websites, but that plant is an “ocean blue morning-glory.” Instead, because of the heart shaped leaves and flower color I think it is “Ipomoea purpurea” which is the purple or tall morning glory. I’m color blind but it sure looks purple to me. 
I thought this yellow rose (Rosa) was a beauty. I found it in a local park and don’t know what the variety is, but I think it might be “Gold Medal.” You can see that insects have left it alone, even though there is some damage on the outer petals.
Being in the woods is strange right now because it is so dry that oaks are shedding their immature acorns instead of expending the energy it takes to let them ripen, and all you hear is the strange phhhhttt of acorns falling through the canopy, and then a muffled –tap- as they hit the forest litter. It is a sound that is nearly constant-like rain-and it bothers me to think of all the animals that rely on nice ripe acorns for food. 
I did finally find an orchid-in fact, many orchids, but they weren’t quite what I expected. This is the flower cluster of a non-native orchid called broad leaved helleborine (Epipactis helleborine.) These tiny but showy flowers had quite a lot of purple in them, but books say that green and white ones are much more common. This orchid came to us from Europe and is another garden escapee that has naturalized virtually everywhere. I have actually pulled it as a weed from commercial shrub beds. 
The leaves tell the story about where helleborine got its common name; its leaves look a lot like those of false hellebore (Veratrum viride.) 
Indian tobacco is one of the native lobelias (Lobelia inflata.) It grows in deep, shady woods as well as in sunnier locations. The inflata part of its scientific name comes from the swollen calyx behind each flower. The calyx looks like it has been inflated and is useful in identifying this plant. The seed pods, which are said to resemble Native American tobacco pouches, give the plant its common name.
I searched many books trying to identify this helianthus species with no luck except to be sure that it is a helianthus. I’m wondering if it isn’t a hybrid because it seems to have features common to several different helianthus species. It was about 4 feet tall and grew at the edge of the forest in a large colony. It is one of the few plants that weren’t wilted from lack of rain, which makes me think that is has a large, fleshy root like the Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus.) But- it doesn’t have the hairy stems of that plant. Helianthus are natives.
Panicled hawkweed (Hieracium paniculatum) has wiry stems that curve in all directions and end in a small, yellow, daisy-like flower. I found this plant growing in a splash of sunshine along an old forgotten dirt road in the woods. These native plants are sometimes confused with rough hawkweed (Hieracium scabrum) but that plant has prickly flower buds and hairy leaves.
Panicled hawkweed (Hieracium paniculatum) has smooth, hairless leaves and prefers dry forests. This is one of very few hairless hawkweeds. Another common name is Allegheny hawkweed. It is in the aster family.
The little white dots hovering a few inches above the surface of the water are Pipewort (Eriocaulon aquaticum) plants. These plants are also called water button because of the small, round, white flower heads. It is said that the water quality is good wherever this plant grows. 
I found this Clymene Moth (Haploa clymene) hanging out on a wilted bee balm leaf. This one was quite easy to identify because of the upside down cross on its wings. (Some see a dagger) According to what I’ve read the larva feed on several different tree species including oak and willow. Clymene means “renowned one” in Greek. Apparently this moth is only found in the eastern part of the country.
I know where several large colonies of blue bead lily (Clintonia borealis) grow and in the spring I saw hundreds of flowers. Not all flowers become fruit though; out of hundreds of blooms I’ve seen only two berries. It has taken a few weeks of searching to find them, but I’m glad that I did so I could show why the plant is called the blue bead lily. The fruit is certainly blue and is also said to be mildly toxic. It is supposed to have a terrible taste as well. Native Americans used the plant to treat bruises and burns and the root was used in a medicinal tea. The freshly dug root is said to attract bears. 
New Hampshire Garden Solutions 