Tag: mushrooms

Mid-Summer and We Have Mushrooms

July mushrooms in my Florida yard. A very large reddish-orange one and some smaller types hidden in long grass.

Well, it’s Florida so you never know. I guess mushrooms can show up at anytime, even mid-summer. I don’t claim to know a lot about mushrooms, but they have always interested me.

Today I have found these large, reddish orange mushrooms in the grass under a big oak tree. I had to get my hand (and foot) in there for size comparison…LOL. This is the front yard “lawn” which is mostly weeds. The mushrooms seem to be growing from the oak tree roots (maybe).

underside of the reddish orange mushroom
large, red-orange mushroom in the grass
Dark orange with red mushroom top

A week or so ago I was ripping up some tall grass along the side of my Vegega garden bed and found bunches of mushrooms (below).

I can’t find the names of these mushrooms, but wanted to share the photos.

I always discovered interesting mushrooms in the woods when I lived in New Hampshire. Fall was an especially good time to search for them. It was fun to take a walk in the woods and see what was out there. I miss it.

I find it odd to see mushrooms in July in Florida. It seems like a weird time for them to grow. Quite honestly that big reddish mushroom is a bit scary looking. It seems like something so strange belongs in this state.

I took one more mushroom photo (below). It looks like an old and new version comparison with the dark set in front and newer growth behind.

Just for fun, I have included a Zebra Butterly on my yellow dahlia. A morning surprise in the garden.

Smooth top rust color mushrooms
Zebra butterfly on yellow dahlia flower

If you know what these mushrooms are, please leave a comment.

The Bird’s Nest Mushroom

I kept seeing these interesting little growths in the dirt in my vegetable garden. As I searched for info about the orange mushrooms that keep popping up, I came across the bird’s nest mushroom (fungi), and I said…”Ah ha… that’s it!”

The Cyathus striatus is tiny and very unusual looking.  To me it looks like a little bowl full of seeds. It begins as a little bumpy round ball- I’m not sure if it begins as white or brown, and then top “disintegrates” leaving the bowl shape and serving of beans inside.

Someone named it the “bird’s nest”.  That works, but the bits look more like beans or seeds than eggs.  These things are really small and easy to overlook unless you get down close to the earth.  (The red post in my photos is one leg of a tomato cage.)

birds nest mushroom
Bird’s Nest Mushroom (Cyathus stratus)

This is only one type of bird’s nest fungi. The “eggs” do not come out. I tried tipping a bowl over but the contents remained intact.
birds nest mushroom

I’ve been seeing other mushrooms in my raised bed garden. The bright orange mushrooms continue to grow beneath the eggplant and pepper plant.

birds nest mushroom