I was tempted to title this posting “A Fungus Among Us,” but that’s so trite I opted for something plain vanilla instead. Regardless, what I present here are some photos of toadstools and other fungi I recently made. These were all made in late September at Moosehead Lake, near Greenville, Maine. The rains brought out a plethora of fungi of differing types and colors and shapes. I had a fantastic time making these images and could have spent hours exploring the woods and side of the roads for more examples. Clearly, the fall colors are not limited to leaves!
I have no idea what their names are, whether they are poisonous, or anything about them at all. If any of you is a specialist in fungi, I’d love to be enlightened. Otherwise, enjoy this brilliant display of one of nature’s autumn wonders.
These sweet little toadstools were growing on a fallen logThe wavy shape of this toadstool caught my eyeThese highly colorful toadstools were everywhere; they grow to a large sizeHere’s another of the same variety that has expanded to maybe 8-10 inches in width; the day after I took this, the edges had curled up like a bowl and it had captured a pool of water from the rainHere is another grouping of the same colorful toadstoolsThis toadstool was growing from a dead birch tree trunkA growth of fungus on the side of a dead logAnother grouping of delicate toadstools that look good enough to eat, if only you dared; would they make you shrink in size, like Alice in Wonderland? Or would they simply make you disappear?Sometimes they just look good in black and white
I worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 27 years in the field of rural community and economic development. I retired a few years ago and have been devoting my time to photography and writing. I've been a semi-pro photographer for more than 25 years and sell my work on the Web. I live in rural Virginia not far from the Shenandoah Valley.
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