I parked my car and found these babies sitting next to the curb, I was able to get my very first spore prints with them!
Here are spore print instructions from
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/spore_print.html
Making Spore Prints
by Michael Kuo
While a single mushroom spore can't be seen by the naked eye, a pile of many spores can--and the color of a mushroom's spores, seen en masse, is a crucial identification feature. Obtaining a mushroom's "spore print" is therefore an essential step in the identification process.
Before going through the nuts and bolts of making a spore print at home, it is worth noting that mushrooms frequently make their own spore prints, in nature. If you have ever noticed colored dust covering a leaf or the ground beneath a mushroom's gills or pores, you have probably witnessed this phenomenon. Tightly clustered mushrooms, in fact, frequently leave spore prints on one other, since caps overlap.
In order to make a spore print at home, you will need to have a relatively mature mushroom. Buttons, young mushrooms, and mushrooms with some kind of a covering over their gills or pores (a partial veil) are not likely to drop spores in order to make a print.
Remove the stem from smaller mushrooms and place the cap, gills or pores downward, on a piece of paper or glass. For larger mushrooms, slice off a section of the cap and use only the section. Place a cup or glass upside-down on top of your mushroom, to keep air currents away.
While some spore prints can appear within a few hours, it's often best to wait overnight, just to be sure. When you remove the cup and lift the mushroom cap, you should find a "print" like the ones illustrated to the right. If you have been careful not to move the mushroom while the print was developing, you may find that the spore print reflects the pattern of the mushroom's gills or pores, since the spores fell directly downward.
Some field guides advocate using black paper for spore prints, since white prints show up more easily. Then again, brown and black prints don't show up on black paper as well as they do on white paper. I have solved this problem for myself by using glass, which can be held against light and dark backgrounds, rather than paper. In fact I usually use a microscope slide, since I will also be examining spores under the microscope--but if you are not going to be using a microscope, any (safe) piece of glass will suffice.
The color of the spore print is what you will compare with descriptions from field guides and keys. Interpreting color can be very subjective--and mycologists have tried several times to "standardize" the interpretations, without much success. But while subtle differences (like, between "white" and "creamy") may be perplexing, distinguishing a white spore print from a brown one or a pink one is easy enough, and it will help you enormously in identifying a mushroom. More information on assessing colors, of spore prints and the mushrooms themselves, can be found on the page for the genus Russula.
For mushrooms belonging to the Ascomycetes, like the morels and false morels, a spore print is obtained using a similar method. However, since these mushrooms have tiny spore jets that forcibly eject the spores, you will place a piece of the cap on the paper or glass and expect the spore print around the mushroom section (as well as underneath it, if you have placed the spore-producing side downwards).
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Earth Keepers..
This is an excellent movie. Mikael Rioux shows that there are ways to live sustainably. We just need to change the way we live on a global level. The problem is not one persons, it is on the shoulders of all man to realize the destruction caused by money and greed.
He travels around different countries showing different ways people are living a self sustaining life style. There are reasonable alternatives, we just need to reevaluate what is important.
He travels around different countries showing different ways people are living a self sustaining life style. There are reasonable alternatives, we just need to reevaluate what is important.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A stroll down 6th street in Santa Monica 12/11/10
I believe these are Mica Cap Coprinus micaceus,
Here they are a week later.. all grown up
These little guys are still trying to be...
What do you call a mushroom that goes into a bar and buys drinks for everyone all night long? Fungi to be around!
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Jullian Ca
Last Spring I was camping near Lake Cuyamaca, Ca. Across from our campsite was this fantastic spectacle!
I was very excited by this find! There was also another clump of these shelf like mushrooms around the back side of it.
We were in this campsite last year, and there was no mushrooms so its great to see nature grow and change. We have so much diversity.
Lake Cuyamaca is a beautiful place in Southern California, right out side of Jullian. Its a great place for fishing and there are lots of trails for hiking.
I was very excited by this find! There was also another clump of these shelf like mushrooms around the back side of it.
We were in this campsite last year, and there was no mushrooms so its great to see nature grow and change. We have so much diversity.
Lake Cuyamaca is a beautiful place in Southern California, right out side of Jullian. Its a great place for fishing and there are lots of trails for hiking.
Leaving the doc for a day of Fishin'!
Lake Cuyamaca
Tree Sap.. I thought it was pretty cool
Bridge
Bridge
Sunset.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The Poisonous hike! 12/10/2010
Back in the Creek 12/10/2010, Made it up to Century Lake. Its a beautiful little lake just a few miles in from the entrance of the State Park entrance. The walk was mild, not as many mushrooms as I would have liked, but I was able to find a few. Oh.. and ..leaves of three...LET IT BE.. otherwise you will be like ME.
Yep, that's right, even though I was specifically looking for it.. I got the Poison Oak. I have been around it my whole life, and have never had it before. I was very careful but not careful enough. My guess is, in all the excitement of finding a mushroom, and digging around it for a good shot I got myself into it and didn't even see it. Honestly I still don't know exactly when I came into contact with the plant. I just know at the end of the hike I had what looked like a regular scratch. A little bit later it started to itch, not even thinking it was poison oak I took a hot shower, by the next morning it was starting to blister. Not realizing how crazy the stuff was I just put neosporin on it and let it be. By Monday (2 days later) I was leaving work for the Urgent care center up the street. I thought they would give me a shot or something, and I would be fine in a day. Well I was so wrong. I had to take Benadryl, Steroids, use an ointment for 3 weeks, and had to be off work for a whole week!! Not something I was expecting. It was quite the adventure, but not something I would care to repeat.
Never the less, My mushroom hunts will continue!!
Yep, that's right, even though I was specifically looking for it.. I got the Poison Oak. I have been around it my whole life, and have never had it before. I was very careful but not careful enough. My guess is, in all the excitement of finding a mushroom, and digging around it for a good shot I got myself into it and didn't even see it. Honestly I still don't know exactly when I came into contact with the plant. I just know at the end of the hike I had what looked like a regular scratch. A little bit later it started to itch, not even thinking it was poison oak I took a hot shower, by the next morning it was starting to blister. Not realizing how crazy the stuff was I just put neosporin on it and let it be. By Monday (2 days later) I was leaving work for the Urgent care center up the street. I thought they would give me a shot or something, and I would be fine in a day. Well I was so wrong. I had to take Benadryl, Steroids, use an ointment for 3 weeks, and had to be off work for a whole week!! Not something I was expecting. It was quite the adventure, but not something I would care to repeat.
Never the less, My mushroom hunts will continue!!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Malibu Creek hike 12/4/2010
Another beautiful day in Malibu creek, we found a few mushrooms this time.
Got there a little bit late in the day. We mostly found the same batch of Boletes from
the November 20th hike. They have grown up a bit, we also found some other cute little
dainty mushrooms.
I cant wait till I know what they are!
We also found some old ruins and random creepy bones..
Got there a little bit late in the day. We mostly found the same batch of Boletes from
the November 20th hike. They have grown up a bit, we also found some other cute little
dainty mushrooms.
I cant wait till I know what they are!
We also found some old ruins and random creepy bones..
Here is a link to a list of the Flora of Malibu Creek State Park: http://tchester.org/plants/muns/smm/malibu_creek_sp.html
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