June was an especially wet month here, with
twice the usual amount of rain during the month. Every stream in the Big Woods
is full and small streams are running where there is seldom any water – and the
ground is squishy underfoot.
Usually when we think of colors associated
with rain we think of dark gray clouds or maybe the colors of a rainbow. Now,
however, all that rain has produced other colors in the woods, the many and
varied colors of the fungi that were prompted to produce fruiting bodies by the
rain. Recently, we’ve had an abundance of colorful fungi – unfortunately, most
of them aren’t shown in any of the field guides on our shelves. Fungi are
notoriously difficult to identify which is why I won’t gather any for the table
and why even experienced mushroom gatherers are occasionally sickened or poisoned by their
wild harvest.
But we can all enjoy the beauty of the
colorful gift the rain has bestowed on the woodlands.
Boy that pink one is really neat!
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely one of my favorite posts!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post (and blog)! I've never seen anything like that pink one. We sure could use a little of that rain in my part of the world.
ReplyDelete