Treebeard`s Photos

This is a beautiful young Amanita rubescens mushroom - "The Blusher" - fruiting early under Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) trees in the woods. My book (David Arora, Mushrooms Demystified, 1986) says that they usually fruit twice - a small flush after the first fall rains, and a larger crop in late winter and spring. That seems right.

Here you can see remnants of the universal veil as warts on the cap, and the partial veil that protects the gills has just about torn free to form a ring on the stem. The cap gets reddish stains with age and handling that are barely visible. I'll post a photo of the whole mushroom tomorrow. (San Marcos Pass, 28 November 2009)

I go back to school tomorrow after a week of vacation. Even without academic classes, I feel a bit jittery.

I'll try to re-open my comments today. Please don't send me invitations to be your Fiend/Favorite or cute Ascii art because I'll just delete them. But real comments on my photos will be appreciated!

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