13 Days in the Life of an Amanita Muscaria

[cowshill]

[Wild-Woman]

That's an interesting and clever sequence. Thanks for sharing it.

[waynehicks1]

Yes, thanks cowshill, nice to see the different stages. It's a shame you didn't get there early to capture it bursting from it's volva.

Regards

Wayne

[cowshill]

Wayne, I agree, it would have been neat to actually start at first emergence from the ground. But the problem is, there are dozens of them coming up in my area and nearly all are misshapen, chewed by animals or ravaged in any number of other ways as they develop. I took the original picture just because this particular one looked so perfect. Only on the second day, when I saw it was still untouched and in a fairly protected locale, did I get the idea of documenting it's above-ground life cycle. I'm afraid I lack the dedication to photograph every emerging amanita and following them all on to get that one perfect sequence! But it would be a great sequence to have!

- Jim

[fairplay]

I've been thinking for a long time it would be good to have a thread on 'over the hill' specimens, such as Ganoderma resinaceum, Stereum hirsutum, Macrolepiota procera, Hypholoma fasiculare, Phallus impudicus, (when it can be confused with a Morel) and many other commonly seen species which look so different when they are past their best.

Neil.

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by fairplay

I've been thinking for a long time it would be good to have a thread on 'over the hill' specimens, such as Ganoderma resinaceum, Stereum hirsutum, Macrolepiota procera, Hypholoma fasiculare, Phallus impudicus, (when it can be confused with a Morel) and many other commonly seen species which look so different when they are past their best.

Neil.

On first reading this Neil, I thought you were referring to members who were over the hill

I see a new 'hot topic' thread in the making. It could also apply to immature species

John

[fairplay]

I also had in mind immature species too !

It may be a bit much to try to achieve a 'before and after' in the same thread, but then again, they don't need to be taken by the same person at the same location.

Neil.

P.S. "Members over the hill" ? Surely all the bending down to take photos is good for ones back and keeps one so young and sprightly ?

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by fairplay

I also had in mind immature species too !

It may be a bit much to try to achieve a 'before and after' in the same thread, but then again, they don't need to be taken by the same person at the same location.

Neil.

P.S. "Members over the hill" ? Surely all the bending down to take photos is good for ones back and keeps one so young and sprightly ?

I think it would be a good idea to have a reference thread showing life cycle images ... Young, mature and over the hill images. Possibly 'monster' types too!

Such as my recent Taphrina alni:

Mature


Over the hill .... dead!


Must upload an immature image

PS Right, I'll bear that in mind

PPS I nice series btw Jim

[Morchella]

Really interesting set of pics Jim. Must be great to have a good fungus spot that you can visit every day.

And John please stop posting photos of Taphrina, I nearly got run over earlier in the year when I wandered into the road while peering into the canopies of Alders.

Laura

[waynehicks1]

I think a thread showcasing immature and 'past their best' images would be a welcome addition to the forum. For those of us with less experience, stumbling across an immature specimen can be very confusing sometimes. It's hard enough when they are mature!

Question for FungiJohn - Does your Sigma 105mm have some kind of image stabilization?

Regards

Wayne