Thank-you to Doug Smith for submitting these photos from a recent trip he took to the Wells Gray region. We are on the cusp of the fall mushroom fruiting season so be on the lookout wherever you are hiking. Even though we are still in the dry season, mushrooms will be emerging at higher elevations and on North slopes or near water at lower levels.
Helvella compressa is the most common of our elfin saddle mushrooms.
Leccinum discolor has an attractive cinnamon-brown cap and black dots on the stem. They are associated with aspen.
There are a number of attractive polypore mushrooms that will surround nearby vegetation.
Laetiporus conifericola, known as the sulphur shelf or chicken of the woods, forms overlapping clusters on conifer wood.
This is the top side of a woody conk, Ganoderma applanatum. The brown spores released from the bottom surface are wind-deposited on the top.
Fomitopsis pinicola is the most common decay agent of conifer wood in North America. The conks are perennial and add a new layer of spore-producing tubes each year.
This is a species of Russula, one of the early indicators of the fall fruiting season. Red and green capped species are common.
Puffballs are common in a diversity of habitats from spring through the summer. This may be Calvatia fumosa found under montane conifers.
Another puffball, this one with spines on the surface. A species of Lycoperdon.