A giant fungus, perhaps Chicken of the Woods, surprised me as I stepped around the back of a very large tree.
Close up…
The tree does not look healthy, perhaps the result of or contributor to, the fungus that often thrive on rotting vegetation.
Or maybe both.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
January 31, 2023
There is just something fascinating about how fungi grow.
Top view
Side view
September 10, 2022
Grounds of Strawberry Chapel
Cordesville, South Carolina
It was a slow bird day at the swamp and I was looking for movement around the edges.
I didn’t see any moving creatures but did spot two groups of fungus that were in their own worlds in a crevice of a dead tree.
The next two images were taken with the Canon built in flash.
I didn’t have great footing and as I didn’t want to end up in the swamp I didn’t try to get the two groups together.
Here’s a wider shot of the tree where you can see the grouping from my first image; the second is a bit to the left. The tree had to have been magnificent in its day and is huge. I doubt I could put my arms around that limb. Sadly it has deteriorated noticeably in the five years I’ve been passing by.
I was hungry when I saw this fungus sprouting off a tree trunk: all I could think of was pancakes.
From the other side and a bit higher up, imagine a drizzle of amber colored maple syrup as you ponder the pine needle stabbing the biggest cake.
From a distance it looked like something man-made, maybe a piece of trash stuck in the tree trunk by a human.
Fortunately it turned out to be nature-made.
And quite bizarre looking, sort of like a lava flow.
A close up view of the strands:
I spotted all three of these fungi just a few yards (meters) apart from the boardwalk crossing a swamp.
The first one struck me as a great spot for a bird or insect to perch although I don’t know how securely it is attached to the tree and no obliging subjects came along to test it out.
The next one was much more delicate, and also could serve as a perch but I suspect it wouldn’t hold up to much weight.
This final group was on a tree facing the one just above, looking like auditorium seating for a performance.
These fungi images were taken a few days apart in October. The first one was tucked up against a tree. The tree stood off a path where I couldn’t get closer. The color was what made me notice.
A few days later I saw a similarly colored free-standing patch of a similar fungus.
It was so weird looking I had to stop.
And large, it was at least a foot tall (0.3 Meters).
My brief attempt to identify it took me down many paths but rather than get sidetracked with that, I’ll say it is a fungus growing on a fallen log in a pine forest.
