Fall Fungi

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 log
The wavy shape of this toadstool caught my eye
These highly colorful toadstools were everywhere; they grow to a large size
Here’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 rain
Here is another grouping of the same colorful toadstools
This toadstool was growing from a dead birch tree trunk
A growth of fungus on the side of a dead log
Another 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

Published by Norman Reid

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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