November Mushrooms

November Mushrooms

Melissa Donahue

Naturalist

melissa.donahue@nashville.gov

Photos credit Deb Beazley, Nature Center Archives

False Turkey Tails

The middle of November brings a bit of excitement to the Nature Center.  Field trips are winding down, summer chores are over, the Hill Forest is open and frost weed appears.  The premier event of the season was a mushroom hike with Deb, before she retired.  The staff loved to accompany Deb on these mushroom hikes.  She taught us so much and cultivated an appreciation for these fall beauties. Even when you couldn’t go on the hike, there was always the collection basket.  

Mushrooms collected on the hike.

      

Deb would always place the mushrooms she would find in a collection basket.  Then we would gather at the lunch table to see what she discovered.  It was a bit like Christmas with each mushroom a gift to examine.  

Walnut Mycena

There would be very tiny mushrooms like this Walnut Mycena – Mycena luteopllens.

Oyster mushrooms

The seasonal oyster mushroom – Pleurotus ostreatus.

Deadly Galerina

The innocent looking, but lethal, Deadly Galerina –Galerina autumnalis.

Turkey Tails

Turkey Tail mushroom underneath

An appropriately named Turkey tails (Trametes versicolor), a polypore with visible pores on the underside.

False Turkey Tails up close

A "flock" of False Turkey Tails 

False Turkey Tails underside

Also appropriately named False Turkey Tails (Stereum Ostrea), a crust fungus with a smooth underside. (It’s how you tell the "False" from the "True" apart.)

Puff Balls

We all hoped a stand of pear-shaped puffballs (Lycoperdon pyriforme) would be found. These mushrooms are a favorite of many of the naturalist on staff.  If they were located, and were “ripe”, we all went to the woods to poke the mushrooms and release the spores. An eruption of naturalist laughter ensued. So, this November, after a long soaking, rain hope to see you out on the trails looking for these fall beauties.  And if you hear a giggling down the trail it’s just me poking puffballs.  

Out in the woods, we think about what Deb taught us. I always look forward to November when I can re-create all of those wonderful experiences with her. 

Editor's Note:
Mushroom collecting in Warner Park is prohibited. 

For more information about the Mushrooms of Warner Park, check out our list.