I recently moved to a wooded area and all sorts of things are new to me. The other day I noticed this growing out from under a rock in the front yard. It's about 5"L. Does anyone know what this weird looking thing is?
Greetings! What does the underside of the cap look like? Pores, teeth or gills? Is it hard to the touch or tough and rubbery. Can you see if there is a stem? cheers, frog
It's tough and rubbery. I couldn't pull it off as it was stuck on there very tight. I looked around and noticed there are now more so I pulled up one of the little ones to show you the bottom.
Excellent shot of the underside! But I'm going to stall, and say "hmmmm" thoughtfully, and hope someone else weighs in on this one :-)
Looks like Abortiporus biennis to me. http://www.mushroomexpert.com/abortiporus_biennis.html This polypore has two forms: a gnarly form (like the one Windsor found), and a more "normal" form. Some folks give the gnarly form a different genus and species name, but I can't remember what the deal is with that. Best wishes, Michael
Cool - Thank you Michael! I've not seen this as far as I know, so will keep an eye out. Do you know if it occurs in the Pacific Northwest? I don't think it's on our checklist yet. cheers, frog
Michael, thank you so much. You are absolutely right. It does engulf sticks and blades of grass; I noticed that right away. I'm finding more and more around the yard. Is this something that could be a problem or will it just come and go? Frog, do you want some? I can send it. Sandra
Thanks Sandra! I'm tempted, but sadly I also have a fridge full of things in little containers waiting for me to work on them before they decompose. ... i find this paid employment silliness gets in the way of so much cool stuff .... :-)
