Curious Sheep

January 30, 2016, Oregon State University, Oregon, USA  (Dried specimen collected Nov. 25, 2015)

Stropharia ambigua, the coolest gosh darn mushroom. On campus, anyway. These guys have been popping up in the same place since mid November - I’m impressed! They weren’t there the previous season at all.

As they get older, the veil under the gills detaches from the cap partially, leaving both an annulus (ring) and partial veil remnants behind. The veils are surprisingly durable compared to the many Amanita veils I’ve accidentally ruined. S. ambigua also has a nice, dark purple spore print that usually shows on the veil and upper stipe. 

Specimens: May 20, 2015, West Klamath Basin, Oregon, USA  Identified using Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest by Bruce McCune & Linda Geiser

A big thanks to luchswald for helping me to complete my lichen collection for the lichenology course at OSU. Five of the lichen he sent in were completely unique to me, four of which were all found at the same location, on the same tree! It only made sense to feature them all together in a single post. I swear, the rest will feature one lichen per post.

Nodobryoria is a fun genus, because it looks an awful lot like Bryoria (horse/coyote hair lichen). The best way to tell the two apart in the field is the shade of brown present in the cortex: reddish brown is Nodobryoria and any other brown is Bryoria. The Nodobryoria abbreviata above is a little more easily distinguished though due to its tufted, suberect growth form and abundant apothecia. Apothecia that when hydrated, at least in my case, looked very convincingly like engorged deer ticks.

Vulpicida is another fun genus, but is easily recognized by their yellow cortex (a trait caused by the presence of vulpinic acid, among others). They were actually part of the genus Cetraria until 1993, making Vulpicida just old enough to drink. V. canadensis in particular has a yellow reminiscent of the traditional ruler, somewhere around  #EBB810?

Letharia is contestedly the funnest genus! They’re very picturesque and have a bright, highlighter yellow/green color despite that my poor quality photograph indicates. They also contain vulpinic acid and are often called wolf lichen. It’s said that they’re great for killing wolves, and I’d be tempted to believe that. Vulpinic acid is toxic and the lichen containing it should not be ingested by canines or humans alike! Letharia columbiana, pictured above, is identified by the presence of apothecia and rough surface.

November 2, 2014, Mary’s Peak, Oregon, USA

Hypholoma fasciculare? This is one of those mushrooms that was pretty common and grew in clumps. Someone told me what it was multiple times, but I’m useless without a notepad.

March 28, 2015, Mary’s Peak, Oregon, USA

Collybia tuberosa growing on an old, blackened Russula or Lacterius. Initially, I had cut open one of the sclerotia (the appleseed-like structures) and saw what I thought was some basic plant anatomy. Gratefully, a certain phD student from the mycology department corrected me. Apparently whether this parasitizes mushrooms while they’re still living or simply grows on the remains is still up for debate. This particular cluster also seems to be fruiting unusually late in the season, as they are usually found in the late summer and fall. Here’s what the fruiting body looks like. They’re also apparently a pretty common mushroom, though I know I’ve never seen it before!

November 2, 2014, Mary’s Peak, Oregon, USA and October 18, 2014, Mary's Peak.

Mycena aurantiidisca, or more recently renamed Atheniella aurantiidisca. At least, that's what I think. However, the gills are supposed to be adnate and I'm finding it hard to tell from the picture I took...

October 18, 2014, Mary’s Peak, Oregon, USA

Bisporella citrina, perhaps. It is growing on wood, like any respectable B. citrina does, and has disks rather than cups, which is also within the species' description that I could find.

November 2, 2014, Mary’s Peak, Oregon, USA and February 11, 2014, Coos Bay, Oregon, USA

Xylaria hypoxylon, aka carbon antlers, candlesnuff, candlestick, stag's horn, etc. Sometimes you find them branched once or more, and sometimes not. These ascomycete fungi are black with white at the tips, with the black section releasing ascospores while the white releases conidia. Ascospores are the product of sexual reproduction and are formed within a sac while conidia are produced asexually and formed externally. At least, that's what I've gathered. It grows on decomposing wood and is decently common. The ones I've seen are usually around the size of toothpicks, some larger some smaller. Inedible, it seems, but why would you want to eat it anyway?

October 18, 2014, Mary’s Peak, Oregon, USA

Some sort of Peltigera. It could be either P. pacifica or P. membranacea I think, but I can't tell without seeing it out of the moss. This genera of lichen was totally new to me at the time since I'd never encountered any in Coos Bay, but they've been pretty common so far around here. I was somewhat apprehensive about moving away from the coast because I thought there would be fewer lichen species around but... it couldn't be farther from the truth! It's actually more diverse, at least, it seems so from a novice's standpoint.

October 18, 2014, Mary’s Peak, Oregon, USA

October 18, 2014, Mary's Peak, Oregon, USA

July 28, 2014, Coos Bay, Oregon, USA

July 28, 2014, Coos Bay, Oregon, USA

Spiranthes romanzoffiana, otherwise known as Hooded Ladies'-tresses. It is the second orchid I've found in the wild, and it happens to be within walking distance of the Goodyera. It's named after Nikolay Rumyantsev, the man who financed the exploration during which it was discovered in 1828. He also has a very beautiful butterfly named after him as well.

June 15, 2014, Sunset Bay State Park, Oregon, USA

The gooseneck barnacle (Pollicipes polymerus) and the acorn barnacle (Balanus glandula). The common names are right, probably, since they cover a bunch of different barnacles. The rest of the ID? That's up in the air, haha. But they're both pretty common on the PNW coast, so it's a safer assumption.

One day I hope I get to see some of the Lepas anatifera that I ran across while googling around... Now that's a beautiful barnacle! Well, weird too. But still beautiful.

July 17, 2014, Coos Bay, Oregon, USA

I really do need to go out and buy Mushrooms Demystified or something because it is significantly harder to ID fungi using only the internet than it is to ID plants. The closest thing I could come up with is Cantharellus cibarius var. roseocanus, but who can say. Google images doesn't really bring up anything that looks quite like these.

Unlike what the guide I was using said, the inside of the stem bruised yellowish pretty quickly. Now that it's been about 2 hours, the flesh on the outside near the break has bruised brown. It does smell very faintly fruity, but I might be imagining it. It's also pretty firm and fibrous. Found under both evergreen and deciduous huckleberries as well, but I haven't ID'd the trees nearby. 

July 2, 2014, Coos Bay, Oregon, USA

Progress shots of both the Goodyera and the Hemitomes from June, as well as the Drosera that I didn't post about here. It's been almost a month and the orchid still hasn't bloomed! I'll try to check up on it weekly so I don't miss it when it finally does. Likewise, most of the sundew blooms were closed still, although some seemed to be spent and focusing on seed production. I will also be keeping an eye on them and perhaps even harvesting a few seeds if I can...

June 15, 2014, Sunset Bay State Park, Oregon, USA

I know someone posted a photo of these recently and they had been identified. "Oh, I'll remember how to find it again later," I thought. Haha.

June 15, 2014, Sunset Bay State Park, Oregon, USA

Anthopleura xanthogrammica, the giant green sea anemone, is definitely one of the most common anemones on the PNW coast. It's also one of the largest, although it's hard to tell without more in the photo. But to give you an idea, their "maximum" diameter is about 17 cm/6.7". That's most of your face! But if I'm understanding correctly, they can get even larger.

Urticina crassicornis, the Christmas anemone. This anemone is smaller, though still sizable. If you look at the photo closely enough, you can see that there are some dull green stripes running down the side. These are pretty variable in the species, but are the only reason I was able to ID this guy! It might be someone else, but without seeing it open, I have no way of knowing.

Anthopleura elegantissima, the aggregate sea anemone. They're smaller than the aforementioned sea anemone, being around 8 cm/ 3.1" in diameter when open. Although, a lot of the ones I've seen tended to be smaller. Implied by the common name, these guys are usually found in groups. For a better idea of relative size, this is a pretty good photo, or you may simply notice the purple turban shells above. Along with the giant green sea anemone, the aggregate sea anemone are also a pretty common sight in tide pools here.