September mushrooms (part 1)

Hola, setero! Today I share some fresh mushroom impressions from September, all of the shots I took right this week. This is for #fungifriday challenge by @ewkaw
All of the images are clickable for hi-res.

Lilliputian army attacks the castle

Not far away from that scene, actually on the other side of the same tree trunk, I found very intresting coral mushroom.

Although it reminded me of blessed Hericium coralloides (I still pray to met it one day!), I doubt it was it... partly cause it was pretty tiny (about one inch), and secondly, I found it on the ground, not on the deadwood. Might be something different... so, I will file it under UFO category yet (unidentified fungi object, that is it!).
upd. I've got iD for this one: Clavulina cristata (Russian name: Клавулина коралловидная). It is less known edible mushroom, with no great special taste or odour.

Lawyer's wig

I already made a few posts about this intresting mushroom before. Coprinus Comatus' (or Lawyer's wig, as its jokingly named in English) season have started. I have noticed the first instances, and probably soon plantations will appear everywhere! It loves growing in big families. Very photo-friendly mushroom... during all of his cycle.

Those fellas are from Coprinus family too, but different specie.

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While I was creeping on my knees around those Coprinuses, a young kitty came to overseer my activity. It is not the 1st time I see her, its her territory, indeed.. but she was not intrested in mushrooms at all... they are not made from meat :) She just checked what I was doing with them. Kitties are curious, and love to have everything under own control, you know.

Not a Dryads saddle!

I noticed this one the elm tree -- looked like a typical _Dryads saddle, which is quite a well-spread and usual mushroom here. But, close inspection shows its a grilled mushroom (and D.S. is polypore). So, its something different. I identify it as Pleurotus dryinus (Russian name: Вешенка дубовая). This is edible mushroom.

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This is UFO, and I really dont care about its iD! Doesnt matter... I just took a picture of this little mushroom bump :P

Polypore fungi -- looked exactly like a semolina!

Paxillus involutus / Cвинушка

A lot of them have matured at the lawns, to decent size of 10-15cm. Real plantations! Today this mushroom is considered toxic, but the question is a bit tricky: it was being consumed in the previous decades, and was known as an edible 4th grade mushroom. When one consume it for the 1st time, there are no symptoms of poisoning. However, frequent repeated use of it puts you under a mortal danger, due to the mechanism of how exactly it affects the liver cells and body autoimmune response. Folk's sensitivity to fungal toxins also is very different (children are especially sensitive). I could not but note, that Paxillus involutus is known as effective keeper of cesium and copper radioactive isotopes. The content of heavy metals and radioactive isotopes in these mushrooms can be by tens or hundreds percent higher than their content in the soil. Alas: the huge, fleshy, tempting-looking colonies of these mushrooms better should be avoided.

In Russian, it has curious and funny names: Коровья губа, Свинарь, свинорой, свинуха, свиное ухо, солопена, солоха, соломаха, дуни, дунька, дубовичок.

Hebeloma sp.

I especially enjoyed this certain edition -- this fellow with its bizarre shape really reminded me an infant's drawing of a sun!

I assume this is Hebeloma sp., most probably Hebeloma crustuliniforme... but it is a wide-range family, with quite different outlook. There are a lot of mushrooms that all look the same, it is hard to identify them clearly for non-specialist without miscroscope / spores examination, and other operations on such a level.

In Russian, Hebeloma crustuliniforme (Гебелома клейкая) is named "Xреновый гриб".

Вообще, хреновыми грибами называют многие виды гебелом, но клейкую чаще всего. Это название является «говорящим», так как оно сообщает о запахе гриба.

Lyophyllum decastes

A typical mushroom that can be found from September to October across all the Northern Hemisphere (and the peak occurs in the first half of September). Its English name is Fried Chicken, due to the fact that it tastes somewhat like chicken when cooked. Russian name for it is Рядовка скученная.

It is an edible mushroom, and some consider it to be delicious. It grows in large clumps and can be confused with other edible and inedible species (such as Collybia acervata, Hypsizygus tessulatus, Marasmius oreades, and some species of honey agarics from the Armillariella genus). I was helped to determine correct id for this shroom at the Russian forum, myself I cannot identify the exact name of this specie ... and among the Lyophyllum sp. there exist both edible and inedible species :(

Рholiota squarrosa

A very picturesque looking mushroom! It is a widespread saprotroph that grows on the living and dead wood of deciduous trees. A lot of Рholiota sp. are edible; this certain specie has a slightly bitter "radish" taste, but it is quite edible, not poisonous. Of course, you should not pick it in the big city.

Its other common English name is Shaggy Scalycap, and in Russian it is named Чешуйчатка обыкновенная. It is not the 1st time I meet this mushroom, it is well-spread in Northern hemispere... Last year I posted some pictures of young Рholiota squarrosa sprouts, but it is 1st time I stumbled upon such a gigantic, matured colony!

This is how the younger sprouts look like (source for the foto is wiki):

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(c) qwerrie, all the images taken by me, Canon 5D camera and Sigma 150mm lens used.

Now, its time to part ways, I wish you good luck -- and Good Hunting!
Oh, and Happy Fungi Friday to you!

#FungiFriday fun challenge is hold by @EwkaW

I hope many of you will join, as there are only 2 simple rules:

• when Friday comes, share your fungi with us! post your own, original photo/drawing/art/food/anything-at-all of any type of fungi (yes, stolen images will be checked and reported !)
• add #fungifriday (not necessarily must be your 1st tag). that's all!