by a fungi find
In the corner of our backyard is an area that I call our woodland garden with its tree-sized rhododendrons, camellia and other shrubs. It’s a delight for children to hide and run under. A few days ago as we worked outside, our younger granddaughter was in there and called me over with great excitement. She spotted these amazing shell-like fungi marching up one upright branch of a shrub. I was excited too! Being in the shade as it is, I had to wait patiently for a brighter day to try to capture some photos, and that was this morning. The images still needed much adjusting but I’m quite pleased with these ones. Aren’t they beautiful creations? Now it really is a woodland garden.
They reminded me of these somewhat similar frilly ones on a fallen tree branch.
March 8, 2013 in Home, Nature, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
Trametes?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trametes
I can imagine being very pleased to find those as a child–like some magical staircase.
Marly, thanks so much for the link – you must be quite knowledgeable! There are so many out there I get a headache trying to find a match. It might be Trametes pubescens. Mine are actually quite small though my photos make them look large.
Oh yes, the seven year old was most pleased and intrigued!
Wow, these are so beautiful and intriguing – nature is the greatest artist and all those so-true cliches. And extremely difficult to capture photographically, which you also do beautifully.
Hieno löytö!
Marja-Leena, I checked out the earlier photos of the same fungi and remembered how my grandmother said, no, no, you can’t eat them, you get your stomach ill. I was disappointed, just learning what edible one can find in the forest.
BTW, the Finnish name (of course the official is fungi, as it is a Latin word) for those is kääpä. Some of real big ones carpenters can make into desks or door handles or something like that. They are very hard substance inside them and as they grow bigger.
I agree with Marly – they look like a staircase, say out of an illustrated children’s book. Lovely.
Jean, thanks. Nature’s creations indeed. I had to do a fair bit of photo manipulation on these but it was worth it.
Marjatta, kiitos. I learned a new Finnish word! I cannot identify edible and poisonous mushrooms so I don’t taste. How astounding that these can be used in carpentry! Certainly these are very hard as I tried to break one off to possibly scan. I might try a sharp knive, a ‘puukko’?
I’ve been wondering why these suddenly appeared in my garden….perhaps because the ground was cut down at the property line by the construction next door, next to this woodland garden. A concrete wall was poured there then backfilled by different soil. Was it the concrete or the soil mix that changed the soil chemistry? Or the shock to the shrub’s roots? Hmm, I hope it is not dying for fungi often grows on decaying wood, doesn’t it? I’ll be watching carefully for new growth this spring. I have never been able to identify this shrub which has lilac-like flowers in pale pink.
Leslee, I think my granddaughter called them a staircase too. I can imagine little wood sprites and fairies playing there.
They look to me to be very soft and tender – a bit like puffy wings in the first shot.
They are pretty but you might want to take a look at this article about bracket fungi on garden trees as the spores could infect other trees.
Susan, they look soft but are surprisingly hard. Thanks for the link to that information. Oh my, I don’t know if this is what we have but if so, it sounds bad! It is mostly on one branch, with a couple on another – we may have to cut those out – might be wise even if we’re not sure it’s that fungus. It’s a very old shrub, and maybe weakened after the root disturbance last year. Just hope it doesn’t spread to the rhododendrons and camellia nearby – must do an inspection.
How did you know about this, Susan? Have you had experience with it?
Marja-Leena, Susan,
of course, as fungi, they DO spread. But what I have heard is that the tree must be old or somehow sick before the fungus can hit it. We do have a huge big birch diagonally opposite our summer cottage, which might hit the cottage.
It is about 80-100 yrs old and it has now some fungi growing on it. Birches hardly grow any older in this North of a climate. But then I have heard someone in the radio saying that it could be that pollution in air and/or ground might do something to the trees. At least we still have Chernobyl disaster radiation on mushrooms and berries, i.e. on the ground and soil. And in fish.
But whatever the reason: we must cut that old tree up, before it destroys our shack.
It’s good we have children around to be delighted in the natural world before we have to turn to practicalities! Your photos, and the fungi, are lovely.
Marja-Leena and Marjatta,
My parents had a landscaper friend who helped my father remove an old white birch near the house that had large bracket fungi. Being a kid I was pretty sad my ‘fairy tree’ had to go. It was a favorite among the local woodpeckers too.
Yes, Chernobyl and now Fukushima as well. Let’s hope this is nothing more than some pretty fungi that came by to fascinate another little girl.
Marjatta, it is sad to see a tree die. Meanwhile another kind of growth took place. It’s all quite interesting, this symbiosis. If nature were left all alone, it would all balance out. Instead we mess it all up with the Chernobyls and all!
Our shrub is not that old, so it may survive some pruning. It was raining today so we didn’t check out the other shrubs, and a lovely magnolia not far from it.
Beth, yes indeed and thanks. She will be sad to lose the little fairy ladders.
Susan, your ‘fairy tree’ sounded lovely, and I do love birches – they are almost a ‘national tree’ for Finns.You have a lovely memory despite the loss.
Fairies are often cruel and dangerous, so why not their staircases?
Marly, that’s true if we look at the original fairy tales. The dark side is so often whitewashed for young children, and this one is very sensitive at the moment to anything the least bit scary. 🙂