Saturday, October 31, 2015

Mushroom: Tetrapyrgos nigripes


August 21st. It had been raining. I had found small, white mushrooms on the ledge above the creek at our place and then found them throughout a section of the north-facing trail at Fort Yargo State Park. I took the time to find, and photograph, a particularly attractive cluster of mushrooms that were growing on a small twig. 

I suspected that they were members of the family Marasmiaceae that contains tiny mushrooms that are often easily overlooked in the woods. Marasmid mushrooms break down leaf litter in oak/hickory woods in eastern North America. Unlike most marasmid mushrooms, it would be very hard not to notice these mushrooms with their white caps, tiny as they are. 

I decided to try and work my way through the identification keys. I always find identification keys frustrating if I haven’t managed to collect all the information necessary to answer the questions. But this time I was in luck. 

#1 Decaying tree litter; they were growing on tree leaves and twigs.
#10 On debris of hardwoods; these mushrooms were growing on a hardwood twig.
#27 Growing on debris of other hardwoods (other than madrone, tanoak, sycamore, black locust, birch, quacking aspen, black cottonwood, or American holly); none of these trees grew in these woods.
#38 Odor not distinctive (somewhat foul, spermatic, bleachlike, mealy, or radishlike – but not of garlic); these mushrooms had no detectable odor.
#41 Fresh cap otherwise colored (not rose pink, red, purplish red, or wine colored); the caps were white.
#46 Mature cap rarely as wide as 2-3 cm; stem wiry or not; the caps were usually less than an inch in diameter.


#53 Fresh cap white or nearly; the caps were certainly white.


#54 Cap smooth to wrinkled or faintly linked but not conspicuously pleated; the caps were wrinkled.
#56 Not as above (caps larger than 2 mm maximum width; not growing on leaves of American beech); the caps were larger than 2 mm and were not growing on leaves or twigs of American beeches.


#57 Stem surface finely to prominently hairy; hairs were certainly visible on the stems of these mushrooms without having to use a magnifying glass.
#59 At least the bottom portion of the stem darkening to brown, dark brown, or black with maturity; the stems were dark brown/black at the base, progressing to white just below the cap.
I got to question ...
#61 Stem black except at the apex (at the cap); spores triangular to jack shaped: and there it was... Tetrapyrgos nigripes. 

Now I didn’t have spores, but the description of Tetrapyrgos nigripes fit these little mushrooms to a ‘T.’ Their caps were white and pleasantly wrinkled and usually less than 1 inch in diameter. Their stems were dark brown or black at the base and becoming progressively lighter up the stem until they were white near the cap. Hairs were visible on the stem. In addition, they exhibited a characteristic not mentioned in the keys - the stems of these mushrooms appear to be attached to the substrate stem or leaf without any apparent basal mycelium, the vegetative material of the fungus. In fact, it looked as if they grew directly out of the wood.

To add to these characteristics, these mushrooms form fascinating patterns when viewed from below. 

These mushrooms are distributed widely distributed east of the Mississippi River. In spite of apparently being relatively common, I hadn’t seen reports of them and it took me several years to identify them. In fact, I had misidentified them as a Marasmius sp. several years ago.

When I shared photographs of these mushrooms on Facebook, many people commented on having seen them in nearby woods. Too bad these little mushrooms have gone unacknowledged. 

Next time you see these in the woods, spare a few minutes to take a closer look at these little gems.

References:

Related post:

Friday, October 30, 2015

Summer On A Fort Yargo State Park Trail: Section B To The Dam, August 21st (Part 2)


August 21st. (Continued from…). When I visited Fort Yargo State Park in mid-February, there were few signs of Spring. The only wildflower plants that were obvious were the leaves of Cranefly Orchids (Tipularia discolor) that I found in many places.


The route… I’ve described it here, here, here, and here This walk doesn’t have the variety of wildflowers as my other walk from the Group A Shelter to the Old Fort but it does have some gems. One of the Smallflower Pawpaw (Asimina parviflora) had developed fruit that, unfortunately, it had lost; the Pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) Orchids had bloomed, and some Green Adder’s-mouth (Malaxis unifolia) Orchids had bloomed and two were setting seeds. For the moment, some wildflowers we still blooming but there was a lull between seasons. I had thought that the slime mold fruiting was done for the year, but I was in for a surprise. There were new fungi to be found too.


A recently fallen branch, no more than one inch in diameter, held the most intriguing fungi. Small brackets with caps at their attachment points. They are called the Little Nest Polypore (Poronidulus conchifer).


A little further along, and off the trail, I found spotted a couple of Golden Reishi (Ganoderma curtisii).

One was large and attached directly to the trunk of an oak tree. It was approximately seven to eight inches wide; the…


second was growing on its own stalk a few inches from the tree trunk, but probably associated with one of the oaks roots. I was looking forward to following these fascinating fungi. 

I walked on towards the Green Adder’s-mouth Orchid when I spotted a sapling that had been stripped of all its foliage. It reminded me of another small sapling I had seen several weeks before that hosted a hatching of small caterpillars on a Post Oak (Quercus stellata) that had also been stripped of all its leaves. I saw a couple of Post Oaks nearby and decided to check them for caterpillars. Sure enough,…

I found three Yellowstriped Oakworm Moth (Anisota peigleria) caterpillars.


The leaf on the Green Adder’s-mouth Orchid plant and its developing seed capsules still looked healthy. I wondered how long it would take for these small seed capsules to mature.


A very small spider (that I couldn’t get a good look at) had taken advantage of the flower spike and had spun a web from the flower spike to nearby plants.


The Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera pubescens) seed capsules were swelling ever so slightly. Hopefully, these would mature too.


At the top of ‘The Hill,’ I found some more immature Wolf’s Milk (Lycogala epidendrum) fruiting bodies. The small gray ‘blobs’ around the Wolf’s Milk fruiting bodies are developing fruiting bodies of either another slime mold or of a fungus that we haven’t been able to identify at this stage of their development.


On another log nearby, I found a relatively rare sight (for me). These Wolf Milk fruiting bodies had matured and their ‘skins’ dried to break open and release spores onto the wood below. Incidentally, the small brown spots along the crack above these fruiting bodies are the fruiting bodies of yet another slime mold. (Unfortunately I didn’t get good photographs of these latter fruiting bodies to allow identification).

A little further along the trail, A section of the recently fallen pine tree was showing areas of white growth indicative either of a slime mold or fungus.


Closer inspection revealed a healthy colony of ‘Honeycomb’ Coral Slime (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa var. porioides) fruiting bodies.


Out on the open section of trail, a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) was feeding on Brazilian Vervein (Verbena brasiliensis). I just managed to get a shot before it flew off.


The large Trumpetweed/Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium fistulosum) had all but finished blooming but was still an imposing presence near the end of the trail. 

Below it, against the trail was a tangle of green plants three to four feet tall. I thought, at first, that it was just one plant species. When I looked closely, however, the plants had somewhat similar leaves – in size and shape – but they had distinctly different flowers…


The first was Spotted Spurge/Eyebane (Chamaesyce nutans), not only with flowers but also with…

seed capsules extending ‘above’ the flower on tiny stems.
 

The second was Tooth-leaved Croton (Croton glandulosus var. septentrionalis), whose stems were hairy compared with those of the Spotted Spurge. 

The final spotting on the trail was the Perennial Wildbean (Strophostyles umbellata) that were starting to develop seedpods.

Related posts: 
- Summer On A Fort Yargo State Park Trail: Section B To The Dam, July 29th (Part 1)
- Spring Is In The Air: Fort Yargo State Park, Section B To The Dam, May 1st (Part 2)

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Summer On A Fort Yargo State Park Trail: Section B To The Dam, August 21st (Part 1)


August 21st. When I visited Fort Yargo State Park in mid-February, there were few signs of Spring. The only wildflower plants that were obvious were the leaves of Cranefly Orchids (Tipularia discolor) that I found in many places.


The route… I’ve described it here, here, here, and here. This walk doesn’t have the variety of wildflowers as my other walk from the Group A Shelter to the Old Fort but it does have some gems. One of the Smallflower (Asimina parviflora) had developed fruit that, unfortunately, it had lost; the Pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) Orchids had bloomed, and some Green Adder’s-mouth (Malaxis unifolia) Orchids had bloomed and two were setting seeds. For the moment, some wildflowers we still blooming but there was a lull between seasons. I had thought that the slime mold fruiting was done for the year, but I was in for a surprise.


Near the beginning of the trail, the smaller Trumpetweed/Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium fistulatum) plants were still blooming.


In the main woods, St. Andrews Cross (Hypericum hypericioides) plants were still blooming.


Kudzu (Pueraria montana) vines were also still blooming in the main woods.

I was surprised to find Coral Slime (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa var. fruticulsa) fruiting in a location I had never seen it before.  

From a distance, it just looks like white mold on a log. A closer look revealed it to be…

the slime mold fruiting bodies. These were a little atypical in not forming the typical ‘rosettes’ that I was used to seeing.


The Witch’s Butter (Tremella mesenterica), that rehydrated after more rain, was pale in contrast to the rich yellow color I had seen previously.


The Bicolor Lespedeza (Lespedeza bicolor) was still blooming; this is one of the longest blooming plants in these woods.


I’m always surprised to find Atlantic Pigeonwings (Clitoria mariana) blooming along this trail. A small plant had a single flower.

On the first log I check, I found…


Coral Slime fruiting bodies that had formed the typical ‘rosette’ formations.


In addition, I found another atypical presentation of the Coral Slime fruiting bodies; these were ‘stubby’ compared with the typical tubes and had ‘knobby’ tips. Colleagues on the Facebook Slime Mold Identification and Appreciation group confirm that these are the Coral Slime in an atypical presentation.


In addition, there were some immature (pink) Wolf’s Milk (Lycogala epidendrum) fruiting bodies.


Some mold was developing on the fruit on the Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) tree.


One of the densest area of Hairy Elephantfoot (Elephantopus tomentosus) was located just across the trail from the Tulip Poplar.


At the end of the dam, the Lanceleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata) had some fresh blooms.


At the beginning of the return trail, the Hairy Angelica (Angelica venenosa) seeds were still developing nicely.

Moist areas of the woods on the north-facing stretch of the trail were ‘covered’ with these tiny mushrooms. It took me a while to identify them. They are Tetrapyrgos nigripes – they have no common name. 


Just across the trail from some of these mushrooms I found a rare sight for this time of year; a lichen (that I haven’t been able to identify) with fruiting bodies.


I found yet another Orange Sponge Polypore (Pycnoporellus alboluteus) fruiting body on a rotten pine log on the north-facing trail section. I had now found this fungus at three locations in the park.



I found this pretty mushroom, a Pholiota sp., fruiting on a fallen log, also on the north-facing section of trail.

A little further along the trail, I was in for a couple of pleasant surprises. 
(To be continued…)

Related posts: 
- Summer On A Fort Yargo State Park Trail: Section B To The Dam, July 29th (Part 1)
- Spring Is In The Air: Fort Yargo State Park, Section B To The Dam, May 1st (Part 2)