Out in the Garden

For starters, I must first express the very pleasant surprise of this autumn mushroom season in western Oregon. Weeks of dry weather in late summer and early autumn caused me to expect that there would be a disappointing amount of chanterelles to harvest. But beginning in early October, I listened to several people report an abundance of them, particularly near the coast. I was finally able to go foraging twice in late October, and the results were spectacular.

Pivoting to the array of mushrooms we have at Leach, I wish to highlight two species. The first, Rhodofomes cajanderi, is common throughout much of the northern hemisphere’s forests. Classified as a polypore and saprobe, this fungus decomposes dead conifer wood (and rarely hardwoods).  They sometimes parasitize living trees. It forms relatively flat or convex caps, often fused with other caps. What makes these caps stand out are the various shades of pink on their cap surface, as well as on their pore surface.

As the years pass, I am slowly discovering more patches of “coral” fungi in the Garden. One genus, Ramaria, is the largest genus within this category, and is divided into four subgenera. Their structure is remarkable, often displaying a bulky head that is similar to coral or cauliflower. Colors can sometimes be a vivid red or yellow, but are often brown or white. Most are terrestrial, but some grow on buried wood. The specimen I photographed is noted for a very vertical orientation and dark bruising when handled, which led me to an identification as R. concolor.