I took this photo in BC. I think this is some kind of fungus. Can anyone identify it? Thanks for your help.
Do you remember the base of the fungus or the size of it? Here is a link to a possibility. http://helios.bto.ed.ac.uk/bto/FungalBiology/xylaria.htm
Several soft white fingers grouped together formed one base. I looked at the link above but doesn't seem like this is the one. Sorry it's difficult to see the fungus in my photo.
Hi, while looking for something else, I found a picture in an old nature guide book that resembled your fungus. It was called Hericium coralloides, common name Coral Hydnum. Take a look at this image search. I couldn't get a url for the individual pictures on Yves Deneyer's web site as he used frames pages, but I think the second picture above closely resembles yours. Not the most scholarly source, but their description is as follows: If this isn't the species then I would expect a close relative. Harry
And just when I thought I had it, I found this next species, Clavaria vermicularis, common name White worm coral. See http://www.pilzfotopage.de/Aphyllos/pages/Clavaria%20vermicularis.html for a comparison photo. C. vermicularis is brittle, and grows in moist earth, while Hericium coralloides grows on dead or dying wood. Probably why Daniel asked for the substrate or what it was growing on above. Harry
I lean toward the Clavaria as suggested by wrygrass. However, the substrate is important to increase certainty.
Hello. We have a fungus that appears to be similar, though it's in Ontario (sorry the pictures aren't great). I have started a thread looking for ideas on its' identity at: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?p=31895#post31895 Will check into the Clavaria suggestion. Thank you for your help wrygrass. Will follow-up with what I find. Aud
Clavaria Yes I think it is Clavaria! Looks exactly like it. The only thing is, is it possible for the white worm coral to grow in mossy places? I looked at the photo from the link and the Clavaria is growing in a very grassy area. My photo was taken in a wet mossy forest floor. Thank you again for all your help.
I have seen pictures of Clavaria vermicularis on line coexisting with various plant life and even growing in leaf litter where there was little or no plant life, so I expect that the prerequisites for its growth are found in the wet soil it grows in rather than the type of plants that coexist with it. But the wet earth is probably the first thing it needs and many plants can grow and indeed thrive in such conditions, which would include much of grass family and most of the mosses. In fact one of the ways to control the growth of moss in your lawn is to change the Ph level with lime (soil sweetener) and so that might be the difference in the two locations. One soil might be more acid or alkaline than the other. Also, I found pictures on line ranging from the Smokies in the Appalachians to California,(with references to it in BC, Michigan, and Wisconsin) so I would expect both the threads are of the same species, Clavaria vermicularis. I was unable to eliminate all the other species of Clavaria however as I was not able to find a picture for each one. Most that I did find were sufficiently different in appearance, though, that I expect until someone more knowledgeable about fungi jumps into the thread that C. vermicularis is the one. Harry
