It's Friday, and we already know, mushrooms are on the plate... I mean on the screen.
A day to read other beautiful posts and shots of every kind of alien-looking shrooms and maybe give my humble contribution to this Fungi Lovers community with some examples. Although it is a demanding and almost impossible mission to find mushrooms where I am, for the third time I was lucky. So you are at the beginning of my third post for #FungiFriday, event hosted by @ewkaw :)
This time I did not find the mushrooms in the mountains and under conifers as the first time. I didn’t even look for them on eucalyptus trees like in the second post. Now I found them in an orchard near the river.
The walk was scheduled for that Sunday afternoon, and when we go for a long walk on the weekends, I don’t carry a lot of things with me. Phone, water and keys. You guessed it: the pictures are from the phone again, but the opportunity was not to be missed! The mushrooms are here now.
The route was: a walk by the river and a return by the orchard. The list of fruit species that thrive here is not very diverse. Oranges, olives, almonds and nispero. I found that in English it is loquat or medlar. (Eriobotrya japonica).
This is what a loquat tree looks like.
The fruits are of yellow, orange colour, they are small oval-shaped and the taste is between sweet and acid. I have tried them for the first time here in Spain a few years ago and immediately fell in love with the taste of it. They already bloomed one or two months ago and the fruits will grow and ripe around March or April. I am looking forward to eating them.
So, back to mushroom encounter. As we walked and talked, I stopped. My husband was not any surprised anymore; he knows that I am unpredictable and I would jump to someone's orchard if I see fungi or a cat. So he continued with the walk, and some minutes after decided to stop, maybe make a camp as he knew my orchard visit will last... until I have some photos. And he waited...and still would wait, but finally, I finished with my photo session.
I found them on several trees and on one stump. So I have done a bit of research, but maybe I am wrong. For these colourful ones, I am not sure what they are.
They were like rubber, not overly elastic, but they weren't completely dry either. From above it gave me like a plush feeling. They are interspersed with yellow, orange, red, brown lines.
I tried to take a picture from below, and I did it with the front camera of the phone because the position of the mushroom was close to the ground. Here is the result. Not a perfect image but to see how it is:
This little berry you see on the mushroom is actually a small, undeveloped loquat fruit that probably fell off. It looks like served on a plate.
For the next mushrooms, I think they are Phellinus igniarius. At some old stage maybe as the upper part was black and cracked. It was like a disc, and thick, and grown like in layers. I also touched it and it had a woody consistency.
This one I didn't touch, as was full of mould. How old can be this one?
So guys, what do you think about the fungi on the loquat trees? Is it kind of a phellinus as well? However, it as not so thick, that is what confuses me.
Happy Friday Fungi to all :D and thanks for your time spent here! 💗