A patch of sunlit spring woodands - a scratty mix of hawthorn and others - with an intense blue-violent carpet of bluebell flowers starting to emerge.

Small bracket fungi - near-semicircular rings of blue-grey, white and pale brown - almost frilly, emerging in shelves from a horizontal, barkless log. Macro photo.

Close-up of some bluebell flowers - violet-blue, frill-edge bells on a green stem and vivid, narrow, glossy leaves - against a dark, fallen log and a backlit, out-of-focus carpet of more bluebells in the April sunlight.

Another view of the bluebells - an ethereal, dotted cloud of blue flowers hovering above a vivid green carpet of narrow green leaves.

For #saturdaySolitude - down in the spring woodlands a few days ago, with this year's #bluebells arriving...

#bloomscrolling #sporespondence #Derbyshire

Sunlight filters through the canopy and lights the mossy floor of Watkins Glen. Dead leaves and fallen limbs dot the foreground and background, while small green starbursts flow over the landscape. In the sun, two mushrooms glow golden. A tranquil moment.

A little memory from a warmer time for #ForestFriday

#Sporespondence #FungiFriday #Mushrooms #WatkinsGlen #MicroFourThirds #Nature #NaturePhotography

A photo of (probably) a brown birch bolete mushroom sprouting above a green carpet of grass. The mushroom has a thick round cap and a wide stipe, or stem, greyish with dropped spores.

great news everyone: mushroom season has arrived in New Zealand!
#Sporespondence

A cluster of five birds nest fungi or merrily poke up from the undergrowth.

A fallen log, covered in moss, rests amid numerous fallen leaves.

Two small mushrooms are growing beside a mossy log.

Afternoon, good people! Spotted more #BirdsNestFungi today while investigating a new anthill. It's a neat one.

Cheers, take care out there.

#Fungi #fungiverse #mushrooms #moss #mosstodon #awalkaday #nature #sporespondence

Pale bracket fungus emerging from a diagonal, moss-covered log - with a light sprinkling of snow and ice crystals from above.

#FotoVorschlag : "Schnee und Eis nah dran" / "Snow and ice up close" - with some bonus #sporespondence and #mosstodon ...

#Derbyshire, January 2026...

Broad, rotten, off-vertical tree trunk - covered in ivy and thick roots - with a profusion of pale, fleshy, gilled fungi growing out from one side.

Further up that same tree - beneath a mass of ivy, the end of a sawn-off branch, with a splash of orange-yellow fungi growing out from the centre.

Fleshy, waxy-topped bracket fungi with pale gills on their undersides, growing out from a mossy crevice in a tree trunk.

A mass of ivy and roots, almost fully obscuring a tree trunk, with pale fleshy bracket fungi growing out from the centre.

Fungus on just one tree, at the side of an old #Derbyshire country lane - seen earlier today.

#mushtodon #sporespondence #naturePhotography

A small yellow mushroom with an orange speckled cap peeks out from the base of a old blackened log. Brown leaves, pine needles, and sticks litter the floor below it.

A little #mushroom action.

#ColorADay #YellowThu #MobilePhotography #EastCoastKin #Fungi #Sporespondence #EastCoastKin

color film photo depicting a pair of brown mushrooms growing from the top of a decaying log; the stems have a streaking pattern of darker and lighter sections, while the caps have a mottled, almost scaly appearance; the exposure is slightly high, leaving the areas in direct sunlight blown out while the shadows have more detail visible; the colors are somewhat unnatural due to the use of tungsten balanced film in daylight conditions

_one_ more #FungiFriday post for good measure :neocat_uwu:

#mushtodon #sporespondence #fungi #mushrooms #film #NaturePhotography #MacroPhotography

color film photo of a small, tan mushroom growing along the border of a low patch of moss and bare sandy soil; there are fallen pine needles strewn about, and a white oak leaf in the background, as well as several larger mushrooms out of focus next to it; the stem of the mushroom has a streaked and slightly shaggy appearance, while the cap is quite smooth; the colors of the whole photo are somewhat strange and unnatural as a result of tungsten balanced film being used in daylight conditions

whoops it's been over a week since I shared any pics here again time to grab some shroomies from the vault for #FungiFriday :3

#mushtodon #sporespondence #fungi #mushrooms #Mosstodon #film #NaturePhotography #macroPhotography

Ein bemooster Baumstumpf ist nur halb zu sehen, darauf wachsen Pilze (FloraIncognita meinte Dunkle Hallimasch). Darunter und dazwischen braunes und buntes Laub. Dahinter unscharf Bäume mit gelben Blättern.

Vom Sonntagsspaziergang diese kleine Pilzgemeinschaft für den

#FungiFriday #sporespondence #mosstodon

Photograph of a mushroom poking up through brown leaves and pine needles, with buildings in the background. Seen in a road verge as I was walking to my bus stop. (Also: today I learned what that strip of groundcover between the sidewalk and the street is called: "road verge". Apparently some people call it a tree lawn?) CC BY-SA Kate Zimmerman.

Pop! An urban mushroom pokes up through a tangle of leaves.

#MushroomMonday #Mushtodon #fungiverse #sporespondence

macro photo of three light brown, nearly perfectly round puffball fungi growing on the side of a dead log; only the center one is in focus, and we can see its thin light brown skin cracking apart slightly, revealing the pure white flesh underneath; it's also dotted all over with tiny, dark brown speckles that protrude slightly, giving it a bit of a rough texture; the scene is lit by bright sunlight from the left, casting sharp shadows onto the log from which the fungi grow

macro photo of two more of the same fungi, these ones growing on the top of the log; the one on the left is larger and has two round holes in it, where it seems some tiny creature has been snacking; the one on the right is smaller, and it appears its outer skin is just starting to stretch and crack at the top

another photo of two of the same fungi growing directly adjacent to each other through a more intact portion of bark; at least one more insect damage hole is visible on one of them, and green moss can be seen growing in the deep cracks of the bark; the lighting here is softer and flatter than the previous photos

one more photo showing a cluster of quite a few of the same puffballs; this one again is cast in a softer light, and here we get a glance at the slightly narrowed and elongated base that earn these puffballs their "pear-shaped" moniker

#FungiFriday is once again upon us! Here are some pear-shaped puffballs (_Apioperdon pyriforme_), which I'm told are edible but I have yet to actually try because they tend to be pretty small and seem tedious to prepare lol

#mushtodon #sporespondence #mushrooms […]

[Original post on meow.social]

Original post on meow.social

[CW: (friendly) bug close-up]

also, here's a bonus extra close-up of a tiny weevil friend I didn't spot until I was editing these photos :neocat_happy_blep:

what I wouldn't give to be the size of a bug exploring the mushroom forest...

#Weevils #bugs #mushtodon #sporespondence #mushrooms […]

close up photo of a dense colony of light brown mushrooms with darker, reddish brown streaks running from the centers to the edges of their caps; they show a range of life stages, with some small ones just getting started in the foreground, while in the background there are larger ones with their caps opening almost flat and tattered around the edges while their formerly light colored gills have darkened to an inky black

another angle of the same mushrooms, now bringing the older, darkening specimens more into focus; there are also some even older ones in the background here, which appear to be largely decomposed with their entire caps nearly black

extra close photo of two young mushrooms growing slightly separated from the main cluster; their caps are still speckled with the dirt they pushed their way through, and the one on the right is especially small with only a tiny bit of its stem visible between the ground and the bottom of its cap

one more photo displaying another cluster of young mushrooms, pushing their way through the dirt and leaves to replace the decaying ones nearby; here we get a better view of the light speckling that is present on the caps in addition to the streaks of dark and light coloration

have a look at this absolute _forest_ of mushrooms from this past weekend! :3

I believe these are mica caps (_Coprinellus micaceus_)

#mushtodon #sporespondence #mushrooms #fungi #forest #NaturePhotography #macrophotography

close up photo of two bracket fungi growing on the end of a decaying fallen log; they're both an off-white color with relatively flat tops and complex, maze-like ridges or gills on the bottom

photo of one of the bracket fungi from the previous pic, now cut away from the log and laying upside down to get a good look at its underside; the ridges somewhat resemble the familiar gills of many mushrooms but are distinctly different, following chaotic, branching paths which have earned this fungus its common name "mazegill"

closer up photo of the top of one of the bracket fungi still attached to the log; it has a somewhat rough surface with a banding pattern radiating out from the center towards the margin

in celebration of #FungiFriday have a look at these swanky oak mazegills (_Fomitopsis quercina_) :neocat_happy:

#mushtodon #sporespondence #fungi #mushrooms #NaturePhotography #macrophotography

macro photo of several tiny mushrooms growing from the side of a stick; the stalks are mostly dark with a slight light speckling, but fade to white as they near the cap; the caps are white and irregularly shaped, appearing to have dried up somewhat; under the caps are similarly colored gills which run down the stalk a bit; at the base of the stalk each one flares out a bit where it attaches to the stick

almost the same as the other photo, just with slightly different framing and focus

mushroom mushroom mushroom :neocat_bongo_up: :neocat_bongo_down:

#mushtodon #mushrooms #sporespondence #fungi #NaturePhotography #macrophotography #photography

close-up photo of a small mushroom growing through a layer of dead leaves, sticks, and other miscellaneous forest floor debris; the cap is upturned and cracking around the edges, with a deep red cap that fades to a creamy off-white towards the edges, and gills on its underside that also have a warm off-white color to them; the stem is a slightly purer white

Happy #MushroomMonday! :neocat_happy:

Here's a fun _Russula_ mushroom popping up right in the middle of the trail for your viewing pleasure :3

#fungi #mushrooms #sporespondence #mushtodon #NaturePhotography #photography

photo of a large and quite dead moth clinging to the bark of a tree; it's covered in bright white fungal growth that has an appearance almost like that of the frosting one might use to build a gingerbread house, which contrasts against the moths dull orangey cream color

another angle of the same moth, now viewed from the direction of the sun that lights it

one more angle of the same moth; if you look closely you can see the slightly fuzzy texture of the white fungus that consumes it as the large, empty looking eye of the moth stares back towards the camera

[CW: fucked up moth getting eaten by fungus]

celebrating a bit of a spooky #FungiFriday with this naturally occurring horror well within comprehension :3

#fungi #sporespondence #parasite #zombiefungus #moth #insects #NaturePhotography #photography #spooky

Two of my favorite Mastodon hashtags are #Sporespondence for mushrooms, and for lichens #LichenSubscribe

photo of a lion's mane fungus growing from the bark of a tree; it looks quite beautiful with its many pure white teeth hanging down towards the ground, creating a soft and fuzzy appearance

photo of the same fungus taken from the side, giving a better idea of its size and how far it sticks out from the tree in which it grows

the same fungus now removed from its tree and sitting on a scale in my kitchen; the scale reads 360 grams

I keep forgetting to share this but I made a _very_ exciting find halfway through the BikeMS City-to-Shore ride this weekend; certainly wasn't expecting to see my first ever lion's mane in the wild when I left the starting line lmao

brought it home and cooked it […]

[Original post on meow.social]

Original post on c.im

Melinda used to be our neighbor and is one of the coolest people ever. She takes #mosstodon #sporespondence and the #lichen to à whole ‘nother level.

www.cascadepbs.org/culture/2025/09/art-by-n...

#PBSisPunk #publicTelevision […]

Small brown-to-beige toadstool, upper surface concave with a frilly edge - surrounded by giant blades of intensely green grass and some spiky moss, scattered with refracting globes of rainwater.

Another, mostly orange-brown toadstool - this one with a convex head. Again surrounded by green grass.

Tiny #toadstools in the grass... #Derbyshire, yesterday.

#fungi #macrophotography #sporespondence #mushtodon

color film photo of a dense cluster of orange-brown mushrooms growing in the grass; most of them have up-turned caps that display the gills underneath, and the tops of the caps have a sort of speckled texture to them, as well as a distinctive darkened ring around the entire edge of each one; most of the larger mushrooms have small cracks forming around the edges of their caps

a very similar photo to the previous one, but this time in landscape orientation and a bit closer up, allowing us to see a bit more detail

#MushroomMonday is upon us! Here's a nice cluster of Ringless Honey Mushrooms (_Desarmillaria caespitosa_) from a walk at the cemetery the other week :neocat_happy:

#mushtodon #sporespondence #mushrooms #film #kodakgold #NaturePhotography

A pair of light creamy tan mushrooms sprout from the forest floor, which is covered in dry crispy leaves. Plant stems and green vegetation is seem out of focus in the background. The view is even with the caps of the mushrooms, very near the ground.

For #FungiFriday I present this pair of #mushrooms I found growing beside the trail at #FallCreekFalls #StatePark near Spencer, #Tennessee. I took this photo in October of 2013.

#fungi #sporespondence

color film photo of a medium-sized Russula mushroom growing from a carpet of short, green moss; the mushroom has a smooth white stem and gills, and the slightly upturned cap is a bright red color on top; the moss completely covers the ground around it, with some twigs and dry pine needles laying atop the layer of moss

a fun-colored fungus friend from up in the Finger Lakes region a couple weeks ago; _Russulas_ like this one are always some of my favorite mushrooms to spot, and this trail was absolutely _full_ of them :neocat_happy:

#mushtodon #sporespondence #mushrooms #Mosstodon #film #NaturePhotography

macro photo of a trio of tiny brown mushrooms growing among some moss and lichen-covered rocks; two are growing from the same spot on the left side while one goes it along towards the right; the caps have a slightly rough, leathery appearance with just a bit of pleating, while the stems are smooth and light-colored; at the bottom right corner, the blurry purplish cap of a large russula mushroom is also barely visible

one more #FungiFriday post for good luck :neocat_happy_blep:

#mushtodon #sporespondence #mushrooms #Mosstodon #lichensubscribe #NaturePhotography #macrophotography

macro photo of a tiny white mushroom growing amidst a blanket of moss; the cap is slightly translucent with maybe just the tiniest bit of pleating, and the stem is a bit thicker with some grainy texture that's too small for the camera to really see here

mushroomposting will continue until morale improves :3

#FungiFriday #mushtodon #sporespondence #mushrooms #Mosstodon #NaturePhotography #macrophotography

photo of a tiny mushroom growing in a dark crevice between some rocks; its cap is beige and extremely round with a pleated appearance, and its stem is black with just the slightest hint of fuzzy texture; the rocks are carpeted in moss, and the floor of the opening is covered with sticks which the mushroom is probably feeding on

happy #FungiFriday to those who celebrate :3

#mushtodon #sporespondence #mushrooms #Mosstodon #NaturePhotography #macrophotography

color film photo of a relatively large mushroom with a smooth, light-gray cap; its white stalk is quite shaggy at the bottom, becoming less so towards the top; the veil has broken to reveal the cap's underside, but otherwise remains mostly intact hanging around the upper section of the stalk; the ground it grows from is covered in the debris of the forest floor

color film photo of a small, brightly colored mushroom growing from the forest floor; its almost flat cap is a deep orange in the center, fading to a lighter orange or yellow around the edges; the stalk is a quite intense yellow, and still boasts the remnants of the veil that once covered the mushroom's gills

color film photo of a small to medium mushroom similar to the previous one; its cap fades from a reddish orange in the center, to a pale yellow around the edges, and the yellow stalk once again has the remnants of the veil still attached; the cap is covered in dirt from where it pushed through the soil, and just above it is a 3-leafed clover that gives a sense of scale

Happy #MushroomMonday! Here are a few unidentified mushrooms from a couple weeks ago—my gut says they're all _Amanita_ species, but I only took samples of one and I haven't given it a proper inspection under the microscope just yet.

#mushtodon #mushrooms […]

[Original post on meow.social]

The picture shows a mossy log lying on the forest floor. There are a profusion of colorful bracket fungi growing out of the log. These range from tan to light orange in color.

For #FungiFriday I thought I’d share an old photo of these colorful bracket fungi I found growing on a mossy log at Carter Caves #StatePark near Olive Hill #Kentucky. This was from October 2003.

#mushtodon #sporespondence #mushroon #mosstodon