SOUTHERN CROSS SOJOURN: September 2024

Friday, September 13, 2024

Fall Mushroom Foray in the Wasatch Mountains!

Here it is again… fall mushroom season in Utah!

This foray was to the Wasatch Front in early September. Even at 8,000’, it was pretty warm out, and I wondered if we would find anything. Dry grasses and forbs crunch-crunched underfoot in an un-promising manner.

Then my footsteps fell silent as I approached a small stream. This moist micro-habitat, it turned out, was full of mushrooms! Great find!

Here’s some Cortinarius mushrooms, members of a very large genus which is identifiable by weblike remnants of a cortina on their stems. The cortina is a delicate structure that covers the gills, coming away as the mushroom matures. In the third picture below, a bit of cortina can be seen, still connecting stipe to cap.

Fungi are just about the only organisms that can decompose lignin, a key component of wood. If not for the vast amount of lignin-digesting fungi that inhabit the woods, we would be awash in dead and down logs in perpetuum. Chunky “brown rot”, below, is left behind by organisms that only consume cellulose. “White rot” fungus consumes both lignin and cellulose, leaving a pale residue.

Brown rot

White rot

Here is Lacterius deliciosa. The lacterius genus oozes white “milk” from their gills when damaged. In this case, deliciosa is a misnomer- this mushroom will make you sick.

Below is Sarcodon – the shingled hedgehog. An easy-to-recognize edible mushroom with a unique musky, minty odor. Some like it and some don’t. They are better young, becoming bitter when older. The hedgehog has teeth instead of gills or a polypore structure.

Below is a picture of Cryptospore fungus on a tree trunk. Beetles crawl into the fungal case to feed, and are covered in spores, which they carry to a new tree.

On the overhanging banks of the stream, hiding amongst mosses, were charming little bright orange Scutellinia scutelata “eyelash mushrooms”. Under a magnifying glass, these tiny orange cups are fringed by eyelash-like hairs.

Porcini bolete- the Utah state mushroom is a large, choice edible! It can be recognized by its polypore underside, reticulum on stem, and “penny bun” cap. It is mycorrhizal, often found under younger spruce trees.

The bolete was followed by a couple of rare finds: elven saddles! Top photo is a white one, and the black one in the lower photos may be a new species.