by Mark Lange
Member since:
May 18, 2007

The orange fungi from down under! (the tree!)

September 17, 2007 10:40 AM EDT (Updated: September 18, 2007 11:01 PM EDT)
views: 452 | comments: 211
 

 

I was asked to come over to my parents house because they had something they wanted to show me.

When I finally made it over, I was greeted with a magnificent display of orange Mushrooms!

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We didn't know what kind they were so we didn't taste them just to be sure.

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I call this shot the photographers eye view because most people would never think to take a photo from the ground level!~

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This batch took about three days to reach this size!

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A close-up shot of the shroom's color and texture.

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Many layers of dead leaves and dirt created the fertile ground for this display.

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They blocked out and grew over the tree and surrounding plants!

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Very pretty and unique from any standpoint!

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I loved the many different levels or "shelves" of the fungi colony!

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I'm looking for my lucky leprechaun but to no avail.

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The tree they are wrapped around is a Japanese Maple that is about 5 years old.

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Myself and my brother both have green thumbs. I think his is greener than mine!

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Another close-up of the many layers of the fungus.

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There is a copper rod that the fungus has grown around near the tree. It has an ornate butterfly at the end.

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Notice how it seems to be squeezing the life out of the begonia plant?

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It even housed a spider for a day. There is a piece of spider web left behind to add another element to the simple beauty that God has provided!~

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Even without the fungi, My brother's plantings are impressive! He always knows what kinds of plants go together to give you that prefect garden look!~

 

All life has it's own life span and it's own way of dieing. These last photos are of the shroom's fading away to piles of gross, disgusting, sludge that stinks to high heaven. At least the flies will be full!

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Thanks for looking at yet another photo essay. I have so many photographs to share that this seems to be the best way of sharing them!

Hope you Enjoyed,

Mark
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Comments: 211

Bundy P Sep 17, 2007, 10:46am EDT
These are lovely, Mark...I often find them in my wood pile after a rain!
Cristina S. Sep 17, 2007, 10:48am EDT
What an amazing group of photos!
I have never seen anything like this before!
JoAnne D. Sep 17, 2007, 10:48am EDT
Now there is something orange and very pretty.
Dani B. Sep 17, 2007, 10:50am EDT
wow!
Juan J Martinez Sep 17, 2007, 10:52am EDT
Great photography!
Carol S. Sep 17, 2007, 10:54am EDT
Fantastic! I really like #2 photo the best, but they are all wonderful!
jessie voigts Sep 17, 2007, 10:56am EDT
great shots, mark! i love #3 the best. i had a hard time reading the text in black, though. lucky you, to be able to see those!
Donald M. Sep 17, 2007, 10:57am EDT
I love the photo display. I dont remember this kind of mushroom. But have about every other kind around me. I have huge white ones growing in my horse lot.
We actually buy mushroom dirt to use in our vegetable garden. It is great . No wonder the tree grows so well.
Spencer T. Sep 17, 2007, 10:57am EDT
Never seen orange mushrooms. How lovely.
Vivian P. Sep 17, 2007, 10:58am EDT
Awesome I love mushrooms and those were so beautiful
Amanda C. Sep 17, 2007, 10:59am EDT
wow, those are some really pretty mushrooms!
Dan B. Sep 17, 2007, 11:00am EDT
Dr. Andrew J.S. is a bit of a mushroom expert on gather. Thanks Mark!
Taylor ~hopes no one forgets her!~ Blue Sep 17, 2007, 11:00am EDT
crazy...those are amazing!
Nana to Seven Cutiepies Sep 17, 2007, 11:00am EDT
Mark, these are so pretty and very different, although the same color, as the orange mushrooms I posted recently. I wonder how many other orange mushrooms there are. This is a great photo essay. Beautiful photos.
Mark I love these photos, such brilliant color and the actual close up of the 'shrooms are really coooool!!! Fantastic job, sir!!!
Anne Marie A. Sep 17, 2007, 11:01am EDT
You took some awesome shots great captures!
Bridget ♥ Sep 17, 2007, 11:01am EDT
Those are amazingly beautiful! Excellent photos!
Michael the #2 Ninja Kitteh Sep 17, 2007, 11:02am EDT
Wonderful! They look like pancakes. Try them with warm syrup and strawberries.
t b. Sep 17, 2007, 11:02am EDT
What a trip. I kept looking at them and thinking of "Alice Through the Looking Glass"
Elaine B. Sep 17, 2007, 11:03am EDT
Beautiful color, and huge.
Μόףףý ● ķ ~ Sep 17, 2007, 11:03am EDT
WOW! Thats amazing Mark! How long did it live? That is so wild that it grew out of nowhere to that size in 3 days!

I love your photo essays! Thank you!
Janet O. Sep 17, 2007, 11:04am EDT
Beautiful photography, Mark. The mushrooms must have been feeding off something in the soil, depleted it and faded away. Thank you for sharing your fine work.
Janet
Elizabeth A. Sep 17, 2007, 11:06am EDT
Interesting shots of orange fungi, Mark! I especially enjoyed photo no. two: "I call this shot the photographers eye view because most people would never think to take a photo from the ground level!~"
Cheryl W. Sep 17, 2007, 11:08am EDT
Very nice photo essay, Mark! Thanks for sharing!
Michelle W. Sep 17, 2007, 11:13am EDT
Very nice! I loved the shot from the ground looking up at the bottom of them!
Stephanie W. Sep 17, 2007, 11:14am EDT
Wow! Really great photos. I really liked the second one as well! I am a serious gardener and am endlessly fascinated by the simple, quiet beauty of nature.
golds g. Sep 17, 2007, 11:15am EDT
what type of mushrooms are they I want them I'm really like mushrooms in case you couldnt tell~!
Susan B. Sep 17, 2007, 11:16am EDT
Terrific! I love how close up you got :)
Rob Appell Sep 17, 2007, 11:16am EDT
I'd say it's a Jack-o-lantern mushroom...very similar to the chicken mushroom (sulphur polypore), but the chicken mushroom grows from the wood of the tree, while the jack-o-lantern mushroom grows off decaying leaves and wood pieces in the ground. The chicken mushroom is edible, especially the tender edges, but the jack-o-lantern mushroom is poisonous. It won't cause death but will cause severe illness.
vickey w Sep 17, 2007, 11:17am EDT
These are beautiful, such color, The pics are great
Debby O. Sep 17, 2007, 11:18am EDT
Excellent Mark!
Dale C. Sep 17, 2007, 11:19am EDT
When I saw the invite I kind of half thought it was a joke, but this is very cool. Thanks.
Nothing Fancy Sep 17, 2007, 11:20am EDT
I've always wanted to do a photo essay but have no idea how to do it. Great one here - I am also curious what kind of mushrooms these are.
Michael M. Sep 17, 2007, 11:22am EDT
Very nice photos, thanks.
Ada D. Sep 17, 2007, 11:22am EDT
I think Rob is correct - it's the Jack-O-Lantern
Bonnie L. Sep 17, 2007, 11:23am EDT
Mark ! These are exquisite shots!!! I think you could sell any number of them...I have no idea how you'd go about that.. . ARE you a professional photographer?

They are so evocative of autumn. When I was a child my older sister told me about fairies that lived in leafy glades and lived under "toad stools"...if that were true, your parents' mushrooms are where I would want my fairies to live.

Thanks for the invitation to view!


First Chapters Romance Contest Your Gift To Me
Nana Gill Sep 17, 2007, 11:27am EDT
Mark, This was really lovely. I really enjoyed browsing and yes it looks like your brother does have a true gift as a caretaker of God's glory. I love gardens. Many times they express the beauty which lies within a soul. As an painter captures his/her soul on the canvass so the gardener plants his/her beauty on fertile soil. This was truly marvelous. Thank you for inviting me in.
Anne B. Grote Sep 17, 2007, 11:27am EDT
these are unbelievable! I would not think they were edible, though -- ever!
michelle K. Sep 17, 2007, 11:27am EDT
That has to be the coolest mushroom I've ever seen! I just wish it didn't have to die so quickly!
Sarah (I want points) Sep 17, 2007, 11:29am EDT
Those are really great shots... I've never thought of mushrooms as pretty before, but those really are. Good thing you didn't eat them though!
Danielle P. Sep 17, 2007, 11:34am EDT
Awesome pictures. I have never seem mushrooms like that.
Jennifer S. Sep 17, 2007, 11:34am EDT
Stunning photos of beautiful mushrooms. I've never seen any like these!
LeJoy R. Sep 17, 2007, 11:35am EDT
Pretty beautiful and amazing, when you get past the gross, disgusting part! :o)
Priscilla (wishing I was in Costa Rica) ~. Sep 17, 2007, 11:36am EDT
Very cool Mark! I'm glad you took the pictures & shared them with us~
Jon S. Sep 17, 2007, 11:36am EDT
Amazing photos, thanks so much for sharing them.
Zoe H. Sep 17, 2007, 11:37am EDT
wow! I've never seen such mushrooms before. The ones I've seen were white ones and brownish ones. These mushrooms are beatiful in color. Great pictures. Also, there are so many of them. And they are big, unlike the ones I've seen, small.
Zoe H. Sep 17, 2007, 11:38am EDT
That's an honest response, LeJoy. LOL. I like.
George McNaughton Sep 17, 2007, 11:42am EDT
Mark, please post this to Nature Essayists.
Kristen W. Sep 17, 2007, 11:48am EDT
These are incredible. I've never seen them before, but suddenly I feel like Alice should be in the photo! LOL

Thanks for sharing these, Mark. Your photogrophy is always wonderful!
Alan B. Sep 17, 2007, 11:48am EDT
Most enjoyable and lovely photographs.
El Toro Bravo de Amor Sep 17, 2007, 11:51am EDT
Reminds me of one of my top 100 movies. The black and white Japanese classic Attack of the Mushroom People. Try smoking some. :)
Barbara C. Sep 17, 2007, 11:55am EDT
Hi Mark,
I wonder if these fungi represent a danger to the Japanese Maple? I don't think they are a polymar because one can see the gills on the bottom side. The pictures are fantastic!
Jerri H. Sep 17, 2007, 11:59am EDT
Great shots Mark....great camera angles :)
Melanie S. Sep 17, 2007, 12:04pm EDT
Wow that is a magnificent display!!!! Looks like the perfect habitat for fairies :)
Timothy S. Sep 17, 2007, 12:09pm EDT
Those are great shots! Mushrooms (fungus in general) are fascinating to me.
Bijou *~MotherGrizzly~* M. Sep 17, 2007, 12:09pm EDT
Beautiful images of the orange mushrooms. Loved the article.
Starr A. Sep 17, 2007, 12:13pm EDT
These pictures are beautiful, thanks for sharing them.
Barbi P. Sep 17, 2007, 12:15pm EDT
Wow...I havent seen anything like that before. What do you do to get rid of mushrooms? my parents got a bunch that just came up a few weeks ago.
Teresa W. Sep 17, 2007, 12:16pm EDT
The pictures are so gorgeous! I love fungi, they are so darn interesting! But your pictures really were the most wonderful I've seen. Thank you!!
MaryAnne, Director of Member Services Sep 17, 2007, 12:19pm EDT
Great photos! The mushrooms are amazing. We used to see the same kind of mushroom grow out of an old tree near my kid's bus stop when they were young. The mushroom would appear every few years in the crock of branches about 15 feet up from the ground. They really are beautiful.
Elaine F. Sep 17, 2007, 12:22pm EDT
I have never seen mushrooms like that in my life. I hope that by the mushrooms being wrapped around the tree it will not cut off the life force for the tree. The color is so beautiful. Your pictures are really worth a thousand words. Keep them coming.
Charlotte Babb Maven-Fairy Godmother Sep 17, 2007, 12:27pm EDT
The photos are fabulous! I am a bit concerned about the tree too, but the fungi are beautiful. Your impatiens are gorgeous too. Thanks for brightening my day.
Vivian A. Sep 17, 2007, 12:30pm EDT
Those mushrooms are absolutely gorgeous and a perfect harbinger of autumn. I especially love the pictures of the gills. Thank you!
Teresa A. Sep 17, 2007, 12:30pm EDT
Very beautiful! Wish the fungi where I live were as colorful!
Kurt Michael Friese Sep 17, 2007, 12:34pm EDT
Good thing you didn't eat'em. Those are Jack o' Lanterns, and they'll make ya mighty sick. They can kill the elderly, small children, and people with compromised immune systems. Enjoy their beauty, but don't dare eat them.

Peace,
kmf
Jennifer W. Sep 17, 2007, 12:38pm EDT
Wow, how cool!
Col. George W. Sep 17, 2007, 12:42pm EDT
Good Photography, beautiful and interesting. Of course they will probably kill all of the flowers around it.
James B. Sep 17, 2007, 12:49pm EDT
COOL!
Tory H. Sep 17, 2007, 12:59pm EDT
Wow, that's really impressive! Such a vibrant color... it really gives a unique look to the garden. Sort of whimsical!
Charity M. Sep 17, 2007, 1:02pm EDT
((( So beautiful )))
Sue M. Sep 17, 2007, 1:05pm EDT
Wow... wonderful photo essay, Mark! Thanks for sharing!
Dawn G. Sep 17, 2007, 1:07pm EDT
This is an interesting picture of an orange mushroom. I have never seen this before. I did not know that mushrooms grew that big. I like the color too.
Al Allaway Sep 17, 2007, 1:08pm EDT
Excellent photography. Have you keyed out the scientific name?
Lisa (I love loons) C. Sep 17, 2007, 1:08pm EDT
These are the coolest mushrooms I have ever seen. They almost look like crepes layered on top of one another!!! Very cool pictures - I really enjoyed looking at them. Thanks for sharing all your exquisite pictures with us.!!!
Bonnie S. Sep 17, 2007, 1:11pm EDT
That is a really neat photo essay, I never saw anything like that before. You capture some great shots.
Heather C. Sep 17, 2007, 1:14pm EDT
Awesome photos! Would be nice to know if they were poisonous!
Courtney B. Sep 17, 2007, 1:16pm EDT
Beautiful! When I lived in Maine we would see these everywhere but now I live in the desert and there arent that many mushrooms around lol
Janice Mitchell Sep 17, 2007, 1:22pm EDT
The Orange Peel Fungus (Aleuria aurantia) is a widespread ascomycete fungus. The orange peel fungus has no stem, and sits directly on the ground. The fruiting bodies are concave at first, but quickly become irregular, with the edges becoming wavy. Aleuria aurantia is edible but not recommended, because it may be confused with Otidea or Caloscypha species that are poisonous or of unknown edibility.
Or it could be Omphalotus olearius, just like Iris said.
Either way, the pictures are truly beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Natalie Neal Whitefield Sep 17, 2007, 1:22pm EDT
Very wise to identify any mushroom with absolute certainty. We younger ones always relied upon older people who knew what they were collecting from long years of experience in the woods. At first glance these do look like Chanterelle mushrooms but the edible mushroom doesn't cluster or feed in the same way as the ones you have photographed. Your photos are excellent.

~Natalie Neal
Best in the Whole Wide World
Patti M. Sep 17, 2007, 1:30pm EDT
These are awsome photos. I've never seen anything like them before. Thank you sooooooooooo much for sharing them with us.
Patricia I. Sep 17, 2007, 1:37pm EDT
That is incrediable, such beauty and great photos, I have never seen anything like that ever
Jo C. Sep 17, 2007, 1:41pm EDT
Those are stunning photos!
♥kyra D. Sep 17, 2007, 1:45pm EDT
Great photo essay Mark. Love those mushrooms. I've never seen anything like them before. Beautiful!!! *I don't usually think mushrooms are pretty....interesting but not pretty ;o)*
Robert C D. Sep 17, 2007, 1:47pm EDT
Very interesting photo essay. It is amazing how this growth layered itself. Thank you for sharing...
Jimmie (Hey! Let's Gather!) Harris Sep 17, 2007, 1:52pm EDT
This is simply wonderful.... and the photos are outstanding! This certainly should get to be featured on the Gather home page.
Jessica B. Sep 17, 2007, 1:56pm EDT
Those are great!
Syed The Shah Sep 17, 2007, 2:01pm EDT
Marevelous shots of the rare mushroom.

Bravo!!!!

Shah
Jean E. Sep 17, 2007, 2:03pm EDT
TOTALLY awesome!
Nana to Seven Cutiepies Sep 17, 2007, 2:24pm EDT
Mark, I have featured this wonderful and beautiful photo essay in My Group. Thanks again.
vickie f. Sep 17, 2007, 2:30pm EDT
Wonderful,a Unique find
Kurt Michael Friese Sep 17, 2007, 2:34pm EDT
here's a link to wikipedia (with a photo) of Jack o lantern mushrooms. I think you'll find them to be identical.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omphalotus_olearius
Lyn Owen Sep 17, 2007, 2:37pm EDT
Nice photos.
This was wonderful. I liked the second photograph the most.
Sue * Sep 17, 2007, 2:47pm EDT
Wow...I've never seen anything like that. I'm glad you didn't taste them...we might never have seen the pictures:)
Mark, first thanks for the invite to come take a lokk at your photo essay. Also I can see why it was a feature article. Love all the color, detail of the eye, beauitful flowers surrrounding them. green thumb for sure. I too love gardening. Great way to be with nature & to be alone with your thoughts, I worked out many problems durning my planting season's. My husband said I must not of been allowed to play in the dirt as a child. I really don't remember much of my childhhod. But I do know I love to watch them grow, earth, energy wit air, tress. Love mable wood. It is a sofft wood. I hav mmany peices from my childhood. Some dated the day I was born which is almost 50 years old. other pieces are even older than that. i just love them.
Thank you for such a wonderful display. I like your humor & find you are very cleaver in it. good luck.
god Bless you & your's always 10*
dee-dee
Erica M. Sep 17, 2007, 3:02pm EDT
i took a bunch of photos of the fungi in my backyard. Not quite as colorful, but maybe I should put them in an essay!
Janet "Jax" B. Sep 17, 2007, 3:04pm EDT
Someone on PBS was just talking about these mushrooms, but I can't remember their name. Great photo essay..
Tiffany G. Sep 17, 2007, 3:10pm EDT
Thats really neat!! I love the orange and textures of them!! Great picture taking also!!