Monday, September 26, 2022

Gregarious Mushroom

These glowing orange mushrooms on a dead pine caught my eye in the dark woods. I think they're called Xeromphalina campanella. They have these delightful little dimples in their centers. The genus name Xeromphalina means little dry navel.

I couldn't believe it when I read that this glorious mushroom is described as gregarious, i.e. they grow in dense clusters, as you can see below

The type of gills on the underside of their caps are called 'decurrent' because they extend down the stem a little, beyond where they're attached. You can sort of see this in my pic below

Common names for this species are: golden trumpet and the bell Omphalina. Another thing I discovered when reading about them, is that they have a 'fuzzy foot' ... I hadn't noticed this in the field, but was happy to see it turn up in one of my pics (see close up below).

It's widespread throughout the U.S.

2 comments:

Wendy said...

What I love most about these is they can create their own work of art on a large stump or dead tree...patterns that are delightful to the eye, as illustrated by your photography. I just love the way the pop in the browning landscape!

Captain BBH said...

Halloween orange.. beautiful