Tag Archives: David Arora

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It's always a happy time when there has been enough rain for the first Porcini mushrooms to arrive. Suzy Rudy found perhaps the first one last Sunday in the Timber Cove area. King Boletes are delicious edible mushrooms.

You can see from Suzy's photo that these mushrooms do not have gills. Instead, they have a sponge. King Boletes have a symbiotic relationship with Bishop Pine trees, and can often be found under huckleberry and manzanita bushes, with Bishop Pines and Redwoods nearby.

If you are interested in learning more about wild mushrooms, local David Arora's books are wonderful. Get yours at our bookstore, the Four-Eyed Frog Books, in Gualala. They will mail them to  you if you live out of town. https://www.foureyedfrog.com/

Thanks to Suzy for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

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Allan Hogle found a mushroom I don’t believe anyone would try to eat. He wrote, “There is a regular appearance here at The Farm on the Gualala Ridge, always under out Chestnut trees, at this time of year. According to David Arora’s Mushrooms Demystified, it’s Deadman’s Foot. It seems to have that eerie Halloween connection!”

The scientific name of this fungus is Pisolithus arenarius.

Here are some prettier mushrooms, Wooly Chanterelles, as photographed by Adrian Adams.

Thanks to Allan for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

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The Pacific Ocean has become more active, presumably from storms to our north. It's fun to hear the ocean speaking louder with its crashing waves. Ron LeValley recently photographed a beautiful wave.

The rain we had several weeks ago has coaxed the first Boletus edulis, King Boletes, to make a welcome appearance. These first ones are being found closer to the bluffs, where fog has contributed to their appearance. Lisa Cracknell found a nice group of them!

Lisa is  holding David Arora's wonderful pocketbook entitled "All That the Rain Promises and More." My copy is well-used - it's the go-to book when out in the forest. David's more comprehensive book is titled "Mushrooms Demystified." I highly recommend them. If you need a copy or either one, please consider purchasing them at the Four-eyed Frog Bookstore in Gualala. https://www.foureyedfrog.com/

Thanks to Ron and to Lisa for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Ron's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://levalleyphoto.com/home/

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To see these cheery mushrooms poking up after our autumn rains always makes me smile. We have a spot on our property where they appear in great numbers. Here is how Fly Amanitas, Amanita muscaria, look with they first appear.

Then they open up and reveal their true selves.

Here is one with a "baby" underneath.

Our golden retriever, Sunny, does his best not to step on them as he heads down into the forest.

These mushrooms have hallucinogenic qualities. It's possible to parboil the toxins out, I've been told by mushroom expert David Arora. I prefer just to watch them evolve. They make me happy to look at them!

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Craig Tooley and Amy Ruegg trained their cameras on a strange-looking black fungus, which turned out to be Velvety Black Earth Tongue, Trichoglossum hirsutum.

Amy Ruegg photographed several Earth Tongues.

In David Arora's book "Mushrooms Demystified," he states that they are common in our area, which doesn't explain why I've never spotted one. He does go on to say they are hard to spot, making me feel a little better. Possibly edible, but Arora says they are much too tough to eat. The velvety texture, Arora writes, comes from hundreds of minute hairs.

Thanks to Craig and Amy for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's wildlife photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com