Suddenly, the loud, packed bustle and strikingly bright colors of the New Delhi market started to fade like a vignette for the beautiful animal now in my focus. Tomato red wattles and a comb contrasted starkly with soft, white feathers. As I marveled at the pillow-like tufts, dry, scaly feet emerged from beneath them. I’d…
Photo-a-day
August 13, 2020
At first glance, you might think this fungus on a rotting stump is the commonly sighted Turkey Tail, or Trametes versicolor.
Upon closer inspection, you may notice the thick and fuzzy caps (tops) that make this fungus more similar to cardboard than paper!
While other fungi commonly mistaken for Turkey Tail may have algae growth on their caps, such as False Turkey Tail (Steruem ostrea), this fungus looks most like Mossy Maze Polypore (Cerrena unicolor) based on its texture and fainter striations.
These details of color, texture, shape, and size are all excellent tools when identifying fungi species! Bring a magnifying glass and journal or camera on your next walk to observe fungi closely, including the underside.
Mossy Maze Polypore has a fascinating and complex relationship with the wood-boring wasp (also known as Horntail or Tremex columba) and the ichneumonid wasp (Megarhyssa spp.).
The wood-boring wasp helps to spread this fungus's spores in exchange for a food source of the mycelium (underground fungal network) for its larvae. Meanwhile, the fungus releases a pheromone that helps attract the ichneumonid wasps to the larvae.
—photo by Meryl Haque
1 day ago
