More information would help: Size, habitat (elevation, soil type, trees nearby), gills/no gills (photo of underside)
No underside photo, And no gills. Soil type mostly clay sand mix, location open field - North Carolina, elevation around 2000 ft, trees in area hardwoods. Size stem - around 3-4 inches in dia. Height about 4-4.5 inches. Bowl 5 inches in dia.
WOW! THAT IS AMAZING! Did you collect that specimen? That is no ordinary fruitbody, if you ask me. I'd love to put that into a genus.... Anybody ever seen anything like that before? Any more pictures? Please? Sorry i can't help, but that is intriguing.....
I haven't seen one either, that's why I asked. According to some folks its a snuffbox, but I have never seen one like it, and I have seen more than a few. In fact I did a long search on the net, and could not find anything similar. Yes I have it right here in front of me on top of my monitor, makes a good conversation piece. This is the only picture I did of it in place.
Well. I'm not one to beat a dead horse, but i sure would like to know whathehell that THING is. Have you tried, say, Michael Kuo's website? Barring that, I'd say get some spores to a mycologist. Maybe an herbarium nearby? Neato, again...
<continues to beat the dead horse> Here is a NAMA-affiliated mushroom club in the poster's hometown, http://main.nc.us/amc/. I second chickenofthewoods notion that it be brought to a mycologist, and that site will put the mushroom in the right hands.
Dead Horse Here! To keep those interested informed, I e-mailed the Asheville Shroom Club, and included an attachment of said object. Here is the reply I have gotten so far. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve, * It's a mystery - I have never seen anything like it. We have seen a lot of "aborted" mushrooms this fall, probably because we've had so much rain.* This looks like it might be in that category, having changed shape and color for some reason.... I'll forward it to another Asheville Mushroom Club member, but it sure doesn't look like*something that can be identified! It may be from another planet! * Renate Rikkers Asheville Mushroom Club
THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYIN! It would be tragic to let some unknown new organism just slink away into obscurity again... We pragmatic bio-philes are passionate about labelling "things"...we don't like unknowns much. And besides, if you find a new species of fungi, you may be given the option of naming it. And the FAME! Think of the fame! Really though, thanks for following through, and following up. Keep us updated, if you will. For some reason, inexplicably, that mushroom is important to me.... haha. peace to you all, fun foraging!
Reply just recieved, the mistry gets deeper!. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- two other club members wrote back to say that they have no idea what this might be - so we have to assume that it's an aborted mushroom and not identifyable. * * Renate ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next step to find someone who can. Steve40.
Ok. Ok. I know the horse is getting smelly and all, but we want to render it eventually anyway, and that'll give us the adhesive we need to stick a name on this puppy... Really, tho, steveo, if you wanna give up, give up. But i have this to say: I am an avid clubber. I admit it. I have a problem. I travel thousands of miles a year in search of not only fungi, but other fungo-philes. I have gotten to the point in my life where my general speech is indecipherable to the uninitiated, and those who can speak my language are few and far between. What I'm saying is i love mushroom-hunters. BUT. They don't know a fraction of what your average degreed field mycologist knows about the fungi in their "field".... A Ph.d. You know, those fancy types who use all that latin/greek mumbo-jumbo. These are the kind of people who are relentless with this kind of thing. I've un-stumped many a stumper in my day, often casually... but there's no accounting for the "professional" side of all this. What scientist wouldn't want recognition for discovering a new species? Even amateur mycologists often make significant contributions to taxonomy in this way. All that is necessary is for you to get an actual piece of the mushroom itself to a qualified mycologist with access to a 'scope. It should be simple. There is someone near you who could do it. Failing other methods, you could send me a small piece, preferably drenched in spores, and i will drill down deep, all the way to the bottom of this mysterious "snuff-box"... By the way, what the heck does that mean, snuff-box? Is that a common name for some puffball or something? Anyway, thanks for tolerating my insistence, and I'm dead serious about the specimen. If you'd like, I'll get you the address of my local herbarium, and you can send it there, where i will intercept it and channel it to the right scope and the right pair of eyes.... (the horse is so sad looking...)
Yep! snuff-box, is a local N.C. Hillbilly name for a puff-ball. Heck I might just send you the whole thing, if it makes in more than 100 pieces. I can write fragile on the little box, which means someone will stomp it for the fun of it. I think I put my e-mail address in my profile, I will check and make sure. Steve40.
Looks to be a Mosaic Puffball, species Calvatia utriformis. However there is a similar species C. cyanthiformis that has a lilac tinted spore mass, such as what you have here. They are quite common in eastern North America. Puff balls such as these are also quite common in the northern temperate zones.
My first thought when you suggested a puffball went something like 'are you kidding me', but then i did an image search on the species you suggested and got something that looks markedly similar to it. here is a link to it ... http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/images/ccyath2.jpg any myco-geeks who visit that link will recognize right away that it is from Tom Volk's website, so i believe his call on it. I think ken made a good call, at least one worth thoughtful consideration.
That one looks close enough for me - thanks for the many tries, and replies. At least it is not from another planet (har har).
"At least it is not from another planet" How do you know? I still think it is an extraordinary photograph of an unusually fine specimen, and thanks finally. All that's left of the horse is some poop, which is good mushroom food, i think....
Since this one came from high pasture land, the poo food reasoning would be credible. However the "other planet" thing, would depend on your outlook/opinion, and basic beliefs. (smile) PS# The most amazing thing, is the failure of the local mushroom club to identify it. I know my reason, I am just a photographer who takes pictures of mushrooms for my daughter, who is big on them. But I make no claims to know anything about them, yet I had an idea!.