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oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
@oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
95 followers 32 following 55 posts
Mushroom lady livin' and lovin' in the greater Chicagoland area.

https://www.instagram.com/oldhagofthewoods/
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oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
What up, #fungifriends! It's been a minute. Here, have an old man of the woods (Strobilomyces sp.) sporting a spore beard courtesy of syzygites megalocarpus.
A shaggy, brown-and white mushroom growing in leaf litter, with the cap parasitized by a fluffy green-gray mold.
August 17, 2025 at 7:27 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Tis the season, baby!

Morchella americana (American yellow morel) spotted on Saturday in NW Ohio. You better bet I ate it.

#fungifriends
Morel mushroom with a pitted, conical cap and pale stipe growing in dark leaf litter.
April 30, 2025 at 6:59 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
FINALLY! First fresh fungus of spring 2025! Hexagonal-pored polypore making geometry majors everywhere scratch their heads! #fungifriends

Pic taken 4/5/25 south of Chicago
Single mushroom with a fat white stipe mottled with large orangey pores and a slightly fuzzy orangey cap growing on dead wood.
April 7, 2025 at 5:15 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
A pair of little puffballs, adorned with studs. Pic taken last May south of Chicago. #fungifriends
Two white puffball mushrooms with "studded" tops, growing together in the dirt on the forest floor.
March 18, 2025 at 4:36 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Funeral bells (Galerina marginata), two days ago northwest of Chicago. Pretty much the only living thing I saw in the woods that day. Do not eat these unless you want your organs to shut down.
A grouping of brown-orange mushrooms growing from a rotted log. there is a brown oak leaf just chillin' in the background.
March 17, 2025 at 8:53 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Bleeding fairy helmets! Didn't cut them to show the red goo inside bc I was not in a violent mood. Pics taken 7/19/24 in Rockford, IL. #fungifriends
Grouping of soft pink mushrooms with scalloped edges growing in a group on a log with green leaves in the background. Grouping of soft pink mushrooms with scalloped edges growing in a group on a log with green leaves in the background.
March 11, 2025 at 6:32 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Painted Suillus. A tufted, dusty-rose beauty. Pic taken 6/12/24 near Asheville, NC. #fungifriends
Bolete mushroom with a tufted, pinky-coral cap and a slug-chewed stipe, growing in brown leaf litter.
March 4, 2025 at 9:32 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Oooh-hoo, witchy woman. Witches hat mushrooms (Hygrocybe conica) are vibrant waxcaps that turn black when handled, or with age.

Pics taken 8/9/24 at the Indiana Dunes. #fungifriends
Vibrant, cheeto-orange waxcap mushroom growing in dark soil. The cap is slightly split. Vibrant, cheeto-orange waxcap mushroom growing in dark soil. This specimen has some black streaks from age and being handled.
February 26, 2025 at 4:45 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Violet-gray bolete (Tylopilus plumbeoviolaceous). A HANDSOME mushroom. Look at this thing. Stately. Strong. Give it up for this guy.

8/9/24 at the Indiana Dunes! #fungifriends
Handsome, tall bolete mushroom with a velvety beige cap, and a whitish stipe streaked with speckled violet, growing in leaf litter with green leaves in the background.
February 20, 2025 at 7:40 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
You can tell it's a hairy long stem marasmius when it has a long, hairy stem and it's a marasmius.

Rhizomarasmius pyrrhocephalus taken 12/15/24 northwest of Chicago. #fungifriends
small mushroom with a light orange pleated cap and white gills, and a velvety dark brown stipe. small mushroom with a light orange pleated cap and white gills, and a velvety dark brown stipe, growing on a stick.
February 17, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Reposted
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Is it spring yet???
February 9, 2025 at 5:36 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Mmm. Spore dog on a stick. Chocolate tube slime mold (Stemonitis sp.) in Wisconsin, last October. #fungifriends
Chocolate tube slime mold, like milk chocolate colored tubes on black hairs, growing on wood with white rot. Some orange fall leaves are in an unfocused background.
February 13, 2025 at 7:58 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Woodsy types: will the bird flu change your foraging habits this summer? Eating black raspberries right off the bush is my favorite thing but this year... 😬
February 12, 2025 at 8:25 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Don't you wanna scrub your dishes with it? Spiny puffball (Lycoperdon echinatum), snapped 7/26/23 in Kankakee, IL. #fungifriends
Round-ish, dark brown puffball mushroom covered in bristly white spines, growing in sandy soil, with green leaves in the background.
February 12, 2025 at 6:36 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
This one's kind of spooky, right? Aren't you too spooked? Just found this going through oldies from 7/23. White jelly fungus (ductifera pululahuana), one of the most common fungi I see in the Chicago area. #fungifriends
Cream-colored, ruffly jelly fungus growing on a log with a black background and dramatic, shadowed lighting.
February 11, 2025 at 9:15 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Chicken lips! Yes, CHICKEN LIPS. That is the common name for these little jelly guys. Leotia viscosa. Chicken lips!

Photos taken 9/7/24 in the lovely and mysterious Northwoods of Wisconsin.
A grouping of jelly fungus with yellow stipes and dark forest green caps growing in moss and pine litter. A single jelly fungus with yellow stipe and dark forest green cap growing in moss and pine litter.
February 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Is it spring yet???
February 9, 2025 at 5:36 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Barbie of the woods, coral-pink merulius, with her BFF Stereum. Taken 7/19/24 in Rockford, IL. Scientific name Phlebia incarnata, but I heard a rumor it was going to shift into Byssomerulius soon? #fungifriends
February 8, 2025 at 7:08 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Cheerful Pholiota family lining up for their yearly Sears portrait. Taken 10/27/24 at the Indiana Dunes. #fungifriends
Seven yellow-orange Pholiota mushrooms with scaly caps and stipes poke out of a crack in a downed tree.
February 5, 2025 at 8:28 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Just eat it! This slug is enjoying a nosh on a delicious waxcap (Hygrocybe sp.) #fungifriends
A light yellow-brown slug stretches skyward in order to take a chomp out of a bright red-orange mushroom on the damp forest floor.
February 4, 2025 at 9:41 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
WHAT IS UP it is SLIME MOLD SUNDAY so sink your stinger into this freaky wasp's nest slime mold (Metatrichia vesparia), snapped on 12/30/24 north of Chicago. #fungifriends
Mature slime mold specimen, looking like fluffy cotton candy dusted with bright orange spores, growing on wood. Mature slime mold specimen, looking like fluffy cotton candy dusted with bright orange spores, growing on wood.
February 2, 2025 at 5:24 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Yo, dawg, we heard you liked polypores so we put polypores on your polypore.

Birch polypores (Fomitopsis betulina) growing on one of their brethren taken 10/12/24 in the Wisconsin Driftless area.
Seven pillowy white marshmallow-lookin' polypores growing on the underside of a much larger polypore attached to a downed birch tree. Trees and green and yellow ferns are in the background.
January 31, 2025 at 4:52 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Take a lick of this cat's tongue fungus (Pseudohydnum gelatinosum), spotted in the Wisconsin Northwoods back in September on a trip with my mushroom girlies. #fungifriends
Semi-translucent white fungus, spoon-shaped with tiny "teeth" on the underside, growing on a dark, damp clump of wood with some bright green moss.
January 29, 2025 at 6:48 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Velvet foot fairy fan, fanning fairies far and wide in the Wisconsin Northwoods! #fungifriends
Jelly-like, fan-shaped fungus in a soft brown growing in bright green moss Jelly-like, fan-shaped fungus in a soft brown growing in bright green moss. The sun is shining through the fan-shaped area, adding a nice glow effect.
January 28, 2025 at 7:02 PM
oldhagofthewoods.bsky.social
Glorious, orchid-colored Clavaria zollingeri, spotted at the side of a trail in Candler, NC back in June 2024. First time spotting this for me (it's not rare, but doesn't grow in Chicago!)
Pinkish-purple coral fungus, growing in leaf litter with a bright green background of grass. Close-up of the forked tips of a pinkish purple coral fungus, gently flecked with white spots.
January 27, 2025 at 6:15 PM