The recent rainy days sent me out to Wildwood to search for mushrooms. The damp weather is their favorite time to grow. I found a few, and as I crawled around to get the best shots, I saw a small fallen tree branch surrounded by colored tree leaves and fresh green garlic mustard leaves. It seemed to be covered with royal blue velvet! I certainly had never seen that anywhere before!
When I emailed the photo to my friend and fungi enthusiast, Gary Coté, he said that it is called Velvet Blue Spread or Cobalt Crust (Terana caerula or Pulcherricium caeruleum). The Latin name literally means "the most beautiful blue", which it truly is. It's a fungus that isn't often seen even by experts.
Wildwood is full of wonderful surprises!
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteWhile conducting a birthday party foray for a 9 year old and her buddies, we discovered many of these blue sticks; one of which we brought back to examine under the microscope. They were inspired...as am I by your great photos and posts. Keep it up!
Oh, and the sidebar photos are wonderful.
Thanks again,
Scott J-R