For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Mushrooms - Part 5


This was hidden in the grass and I almost missed it but it is the size of a dinner plate and one of the biggest I have ever seen.

These are almost silver in color and very pretty.
These on the otherhand were so small they were growning between the paving brick.
An unusual shape.

38 comments:

Diane said...

Interesting pictures, we have many around our garden but I wish I knew which were edible. I am taking some spoor with me this year to see if I can grow some which I know are edible.
Diane

Andrea said...

An interesting world,indeed.
Something similar to last one grows in Europe too,and it's very good to eat.
To check if it is the same:when it grows,it opens like an umbrella,and when it's old it becomes liquid like a dark ink.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Joan: I love mushrooms and take a photo whenever I see one. Be very sure what you are eating.

blog with no name said...

The purple ones look like the ones that cause a "dream state". In the right context, they are very usefull for overcomming certain mental conditions like PTSS. Used correctly, there are so many things that are here for our use as "medicine"...

Life in Egypt said...

Nice set of pics Joan,
I used to go off early in the morning to collect fresh mushrooms for breakfast on Sundays, in season of course, and its amazing how many different types of fungi there was about and all different colours, that of course was back in Wales,
Your 4th picture look like the magic mushrooms that grew on the hills wherever there was heather. Hallucination mushrooms,

Wendy said...

Wow, the size of a dinner plate! I can't say I've ever seen mushrooms that big before! Great series, isn't fungus fascinating? :)

Willard said...

Beautiful photos as always, Joan.

Just to let you know, your material is being posted on http://www.photogrind.com/mushrooms-part-5

They do this without your permission and you get no credit unless you have copyright information on your photos or your blog.

I and several other nature photographers are being ripped off also. I am adding material to posts, so it shows who made the original one-for more information read my post on Blog Thieves. I called Photo Grind thieves in that post and they actually posted that on their site as well. I doubt that they actually read what they put up, but post automatically by using RSS feeds (I really don't know this, just repeating what others have said.)

I found the mushroom post was yours by searching for Mushrooms Part-5 on Google and this revealed that you made the original post.

Tammie Lee said...

Oh, how I love mushrooms. They are amazing little creatures. The last photo you share is a Shaggy Mane I believe. About a year ago I ate my first ones, quite yummy! But you must educate yourself and make sure that it is this Shaggy Mane and edible and cook it right. If it is a shaggy mane, it soon begins to turn black and drippy with a dark ink like gooey substance and then it is NOT edible at all.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thats a great idea Diane. I dont like mushrooms but will eat them if they are already in something I may buy.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Hello Andrea. I dont know how these open as when I took this picture they were all fresh like this so I did not see further developement.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Tom . No chance of me doing that as I would never pick them to eat.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

That is interesting Mike. I know nothing about mushrooms so would never try them.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Tony. I wish we had some of those nice colourful ones here but although we have interesting shapes, they are all this bland white/brown. I would never go out picking them as I do not really like to eat them.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Leeloo. I could not believe how huge this one was.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

How lovely to hear from you again Willard.

Thank you for this information. I went and checked it out and I see almost all my post are appearing there. This has happened to me before on another site as well but at least they stopped posting them when I spoke to them about it as it was actually one Indian man stealing the info and posting it under his name. There is not much one can do about it but I will start putting my name on the pictures I post from now on.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks for the interesting info Tammie. I do not know anything about mushrooms but I love learning something new about them.

Tony nile life said...

re, your comment,
been trying to do it for ages , how do I ,
By the way in the uk we can buy the sperm and a bucket of compost with instructions on how to grow all the year round, never did but my neighbour grew them in his cellar,
said it was just the right temp and humidity. but they never tasted as good as the field mushrooms that grew by the oak trees, another bit that mey interest you is ! they never grew in a recently ploughed field, I mean 50 years recent, not sure if the cattle ate them but there was always mushrooms under the trees where the cattle shaded, and they grew from last years pats.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

LOL!! Dont think I would want them in my food then Tony. LOL!!

I will leave a comment on how to do it on your blog then you can just delete it.

Tony nile life said...

Great stuff and only took seconds to do all the sites,
the Striatos is a lot smaller the the knight heron, also notice all the white feather tips on the Striatos. it means its a juvenile.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

I am pleased I could help Tony.

Thanks for the info on the juvenile.

Tony nile life said...

Have put another aniseed photo under the bee one Joan.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Tony. It is much appreciated as I have never seen it growing before.

Becky said...

I absolutely love mushrooms, and if you really look you can find so many different kinds.
Sorry about your problem. I am always concerned, but probably will never know that it is happening.
I do put my name on all of my pictures, but that most likely will only stop the honest people.
B.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Hello Becky. I wish I knew more about them but I have not seen a book on mushrooms anywhere. It would be great to know which are edible even though I do not eat them myself. Maybe I will go to the shopping mall later and look again. It is a public holiday here today and this will give me something interesting to do. :)

Yes, you are right, but honest people would not do things like this in the first place. :(

Becky said...

I have a great book- Field Guide to North Americam Mushrooms put out by the Audubon Society. I don't know if it includes ones from your area though.
B.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Becky. I found a small one in one of our shops but there is not much in it so I will keep looking, maybe I will get lucky. :)

Unknown said...

Joan, I love your mushroom shots! That second one I could stare at all day.

HOW RUDE that site is stealing your stuff! I have recently started putting my name on all of my photos as well, I guess it's a good thing!

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Krista. My favorite here is the silver one. :)

You are right, some people have just no respect for other people's property so it is a good thing you are putting your name on your pictures too. Not that it will stop them in anycase. :(

Rambling Woods said...

When I was trying to ID some fungus that I found, I looked on the internet and found that there is a serious interest in this stuff..like birding only mushrooming... ok that isn't a word..but you get the idea.. smile... Michelle

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

How interesting Michelle. I did not know birds ate them. We are so backward in some ways here, there is just not enough interest in things like this. :(

Craver Vii said...

Interesting how that site lifted the whole mushroom thing with pics and comments. I don't know what to make of it.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

It is easy to do Craver and does not take a brilliant brain to do it just a little bit of knowledge about computers. I think they are doing a RSS feed on it which is even easier.

Unknown said...

Hard to choose a favourite, but the twin mushrooms on the second photo are SO perfect!

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Good choice Jose. I still like the silver ones. :)

myonlyphoto said...

Hey Joan I love photographing mushrooms too. These are nice one. When I was growing up we always used to have in the children stories this one mushroom, red with white dots. They were popular in Europe, but here in Canada never seen one, same for white stork, lol. I miss them sometimes.

Thanks for sharing Joan, nice collection. Anna :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

I wish we had some nice colorful ones here Anna but ours seems to be all of the white/brown type. I am trying to find a book on them so I can learn more but sofar have only found one tiny one which has only a couple of species in it.

Mary said...

Love those tiny ones in the paving blocks and that last one.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

The last one was most unusual for me and the first time I had seen some this shape. Thanks Mary.