Last foray of the year

Unindentified mushroom

The winter is just around the corner and the mushroom season is probably almost over. Because  I haven't been going to forays very often (life is hectic when you have a two-year old daughter) I decided to join the last MAW foray of the year at Scott's Run Nature Preserve in McLean, VA. The group was composed of approximately 15 to 20 people and it was a beautiful day, with a perfect blue sky, and pleasant temperatures. 

Pear-shaped Puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme)

Because it has not been raining a lot and because the temperatures at night are reaching freezing point, there weren't too many mushrooms around, specially in the areas far from the water where humidity is quite low. Furthermore, the leaves have already fallen, and by now most mushrooms are probably hidden under the a thick layer of beige material. In spite of that, a small variety of mushrooms were found, including some Blewitts (Clitocybe nuda), Fawn Mushrooms (Pluteus atricapillus), Deadly Galerinas (Galerina autumnalis), Pear-shaped puffballs (Lycoperdon pyriforme), a couple colorful and bright yellow colored Golden Waxy Cap (Hygocybe flavescens) and a variety of polypores, including the usual suspects: False Turkey Tail (Stereum ostrea), Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor), Parchment fungus (Stereum complicatum), Thick Mazed Polypore (Daedalea quercina), Cinnabar-red Polypore (Pycnoporus cinnabarinus), one large specimen of what looked like a Stump Blossom (Polyporus berkeleyi) and a large number of Resinous Polypore (Ischnoderma resinosum). All in all, it was a fun foray and it gave me plenty of material to bring home for studying.

Resinous Polypore (Ischnoderma resinosum)

Since I don't expect to be going out on forays before the spring, I'll write about each of my findings over the next couple of weeks and post them in separate posts.

Thick Mazed Polypore (Daedalea quercina)