https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/241038961

I found what I believe to be a Sheathed Woodtruft mushroom growing very close to the Egan library in Juneau this morning while walking to Class. One of the reasons I chose this for my second iNaturalist post is because although I walk through that area almost every day I hadn't noticed it until today. Sheathed Woodtufts are commonly found growing out of stumps, logs, and decaying wood which in the case of the colony I found holds. They are native to much of the world, including austrial, Asia, North America, and Europe (from Iceland through Scandinavia). The typical Sheathed Woodtuft colony will have 3-8cm convex caps with gills that are decurrent (running down the stem) which if you look closely at my second photo you can see. Sometimes the stipe (stem) will measure around 8-10cm in length and around 0.5-1cm in diameter, you also might find that they have a collar time called a boot that will separate the lighter smother from the darker scalier section of the stipe.

Mushrooms can sometimes be difficult to identify definitively even more so if, like in the case of the colony that I found, it is late in its growing cycle and is preparing itself for spore release and the decay of its fruiting bodies-(section of mushrooms that are visible). There is another kind of mushroom that closely resembles the Woodtuft called Galerina marginata which is sometimes called The Funeral Bell a deadly lookalike. The easiest way to tell the two species apart is their stems.

Citation:
"Kuehneromyces mutabilis, Sheathed Woodtuft mushroom." 10 Sept. 2024, www.first-nature.com/fungi/kuehneromyces-mutabilis.php.
"Sheathed Woodtuft (Kuehneromyces mutabilis)." iNaturalist, 10 Sept. 2024, www.inaturalist.org/taxa/153033-Kuehneromyces-mutabilis.
"Two Toned Treat – The Sheathed Woodtuft." Mushroom Diary - UK Wild Mushroom Hunting Blog, 7 Aug. 2015, www.mushroomdiary.co.uk/2011/09/sheathed-woodtuft.

Posted on September 11, 2024 08:15 PM by izakm