Saturday, September 21, 2013

Multi-Colored Chanterelles

I was over on the Olympic Peninsula participating in another one of my hobbies (ham radio) and took the opportunity to stop along a couple of the oddly named rivers that flow into Hood Canal.  I'd been to them before and knew a couple spots that have chanterelles.

Both of them provided mushrooms this time too - about 2.5 pounds at each spot (I left the small ones under 1" and some of the big gnarly ones that were past their prime).

At the second location it had started to rain (I hear that back here in Seattle it was a beautiful Saturday...) and I was a bit soaked by the undergrowth - but with a basket brimming with beautiful chanterelles it made the sogginess bearable.  I was wandering around the woods picking yellow chanterelles when I came across a patch of about a dozen big white chanterelles!


You can click on the photo to get an enlarged view

I had heard of white chanterelles, and I think in the past I had found one or two of them - but a dozen was more than I'd ever seen before in one spot.  And there's a yellow chanterelle growing above that line of white ones.

Here's a close up of some of the white chanterelles:


And another:


Then when I was looking at them I noticed an odd mushroom next to one of the white ones.  What could that be?


A purple chanterelle?  People that know mushrooms better than I do might have an idea (edit - and they do - consensus of opinion is that it's Gomphus clavatus aka Pig's ears - some say it's edible).  Here's a close-up:


I didn't pick it - something unique like that should be allowed to spread its spores...

And here are a couple more photos of a pretty mushroom but not a chanterelle of any sort... (and the consensus of opinion for this one is that it is Gomphus floccosus):



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