The Shelves are Bare

Happy #MushroomMonday, here's what fungal friends I could find over the weekend:

Still no sign of mushroom activity. Today I went to hike around a local wildlife refuge and discovered no sign any mushrooms. At all. I discovered some crust fungi on some logs but other than that there wasn't much sign of fungal life. However, 2 shelf fungi saved the day from being a total strikeout. I'll take it what I can get.

The first was this big hunk of whiteness that stood out immediately to me as I scanned the forest floor. It was at the base of a maple tree which was still living.

Here it is in situ.

From the top of the cap it reminded me of a 'white cheese polypore'.

But since it was the only game in town, I stopped and took a closer look. Underneath I discovered it was a toothed fungi actually! I took the following shots lying prone on the ground.

Closer view of the tooth structures which are the reproductive surface.

I'm not sure exactly what this is. I was thinking a youngish Northern Tooth but how close to the ground is throwing me off. I read that Northern Tooth does prefer Sugar Maple trees though this was a Red Maple I believe. Usually I see Northern Tooth higher up but maybe it just depends on where the tree is injured. Let me know what you think.

The second shelf fungi was a little Oak Mazegill (Daedalea quercina) on some dead hardwood logs. Assuming the log was an old oak (Quercus) thus the quercina. The forest was adjacent to a large wetland and was mostly oaks, maples, and beech.

The wavy long pores are very cool looking. Not too common on polypores.

The next day I was only able to find some Agaricus field mushrooms growing on a watered field and some Milky Conecaps.

So that was my little foray today. Thanks for checking out my #MushroomMonday post!