suttonlisa's Favorites
Photos / Sounds
What
Wolf's Milk (Lycogala epidendrum)Observer
zitsermDescription
Fresh and bubble gum pink
Photos / Sounds
What
Poplar Leaf Curl (Taphrina populina)Observer
zitsermDescription
I was thrown off in the beginning when I saw what look like aphids inside one of the gall-like bubbles. There was also a worm-like larva in one of the bubbles. While these bubbles make for good shelter for all sorts of creatures, I don’t believe these blisters are caused by insects. I believe they are a result of an ascomycete, Taphrina populina, which causes galls to form on the leaves of various Populus species, in this case Populus deltoides.
Photos / Sounds
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Dead Man's Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha)Observer
zitsermDescription
Growing out of a cut hardwood stump. A False puffball (slime mold) was also growing on the same stump. The young specimens of X. polymorpha were grayish bluish finger-like fruit bodies. This is the asexual form of the fungus, i.e., the anamorph. The gray powdery substance on these structures are asexual spores, conidia. The sexual form of the fungus, the teleomorph, was also found nearby. They were black fruit bodies and sort of reminded me of Apiosporina morbosa (Black knot). I sliced one open to reveal the white interior and a black outer wall. This black outer wall consists of perithecia (flask like structures), which contain the asci that release the sexual ascospores via tiny openings called ostioles.
Photos / Sounds
What
Deer-colored Trametes (Trametopsis cervina)Observer
zitsermDescription
On what I believe was a Northern Red Oak, near a path that was dug up by tractors a couple of months back.
Trametopsis is a recently created monotypic genus. The fruit bodies are generally effused-reflexed (as seen here), but sometimes resupinate.
The pores are daedaleoid (maze-like) or irpicoid (tooth-like).
Reference paper: http://www.czechmycology.org/_cm/CM60101.pdf
