Wonders of an Old-Growth Forest, Part 33: Blushing Beauty | Warren Woods State Park, Michigan, USA
Looking at a striking mushroom found in the old-growth beech-maple (i.e., not coniferous) forest just east on the main park trail between Warren Woods Road and the Galien River footbridge.
I keyed this specimen out, as best as I could in the field, to Agaricus placomyces. But I stress that the identification, which was literally quick and dirty, is tentative.
Please note that I have not pumped up the color of this photo. The bright pink was indeed as you see it here.
The cap diameter was approximately 11 cm / 4.3 in. Originally it was an off-white to a buff or beige color with a dark-brown center and dark scales farther out as shown. It blushed pink only after it was picked up by one of my tour participants. I then placed the mushroom on my car's hood (seen here) where the cap color continued to deepen rapidly while I leafed through my shroomers' identification manual.
The gills were pink both before and after the mushroom was picked. The stem, which like the gills will be more visible in the next image of this series, was long and graceful, rather than short and stocky. It had a persistent white ring.
This photo was taken on a very rainy day. Everything in the woods, from giant tree trunks to understory plants and mushrooms, was dripping wet.
If my assignment to A. placomyces is correct, the pinkification of its cap was probably due—from what I've read—to the sodden weather conditions. However, I'm also aware that this species its variable in appearance. (So what else is new in mycology?)
No spore print was possible, and I was not packing any KOH. As was intimated above, I was leading a tour and could not spend the time conducting mycological research while everyone stood around waiting for me. So I took a few photos and returned the mushroom to the forest floor, where its spores could go on their merry way when the time was right. If they hadn't been shed already, before the rain hit.
To see the other photos and descriptions of this series, go to my Wonders of an Old-Growth Forest album.
Wonders of an Old-Growth Forest, Part 33: Blushing Beauty | Warren Woods State Park, Michigan, USA
Looking at a striking mushroom found in the old-growth beech-maple (i.e., not coniferous) forest just east on the main park trail between Warren Woods Road and the Galien River footbridge.
I keyed this specimen out, as best as I could in the field, to Agaricus placomyces. But I stress that the identification, which was literally quick and dirty, is tentative.
Please note that I have not pumped up the color of this photo. The bright pink was indeed as you see it here.
The cap diameter was approximately 11 cm / 4.3 in. Originally it was an off-white to a buff or beige color with a dark-brown center and dark scales farther out as shown. It blushed pink only after it was picked up by one of my tour participants. I then placed the mushroom on my car's hood (seen here) where the cap color continued to deepen rapidly while I leafed through my shroomers' identification manual.
The gills were pink both before and after the mushroom was picked. The stem, which like the gills will be more visible in the next image of this series, was long and graceful, rather than short and stocky. It had a persistent white ring.
This photo was taken on a very rainy day. Everything in the woods, from giant tree trunks to understory plants and mushrooms, was dripping wet.
If my assignment to A. placomyces is correct, the pinkification of its cap was probably due—from what I've read—to the sodden weather conditions. However, I'm also aware that this species its variable in appearance. (So what else is new in mycology?)
No spore print was possible, and I was not packing any KOH. As was intimated above, I was leading a tour and could not spend the time conducting mycological research while everyone stood around waiting for me. So I took a few photos and returned the mushroom to the forest floor, where its spores could go on their merry way when the time was right. If they hadn't been shed already, before the rain hit.
To see the other photos and descriptions of this series, go to my Wonders of an Old-Growth Forest album.