Corralitas Drive: Termites Dining On Dried Chicken Of The Woods

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 16, 2017.  Several enormous Chicken of the Woods mushrooms sprouted from a dead Eucalyptus stump on Corralitas Drive.  Several were turkey platter size.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 16, 2017.  When the fungus dries out, termites move in from the host tree.  The tendrils beneath the fungus are termite droppings.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 16, 2017.  They grow in the same host trees year after year, prior to the rainy season, usually in October and November..

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 16, 2017.  All of these mushrooms were growing from the same stump.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 16, 2017.  In the Red Car Property Neighborhood, Eucalyptus is most often their host plant.

Read more: MykoWeb
All our neighborhood fungus

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Red Car Property: Shelf Fungus

Photo: s_d_m, October 27, 2017.  Red Car Property neighbor found a large shelf fungus growing out of cracks in the burned stump of a Eucalyptus on the south end of the Red Car Property, just off Corralitas Walk at the 2 Freeway.

Photo: s_d_m, October 27, 2017.  According to Mycoweb, it's most likely Laetiporis gilbertsonii, also known as a Chicken of the Woods.  They commonly grow in Eucalyptus trees in California.  We've documented many through the years in the Red Car Neighborhood.

Photo: s_d_m, October 27, 2017.  Chicken of the Woods often returns annually to the same trees.  This photo shows the fungus growing out of both sides of the stump.  The stump was left behind after LAFD contractors did brush clearance in December 2016, six months after it was scorched in the June 19, 2016 fire.

Related: All our fungus posts
Mykoweb

Corralitas Drive: Chicken Of The Woods Multiplying

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 8, 2016.  I missed the bright yellow stage of the 10" wide Chicken of the Woods mushroom, dried up on the shady side of the huge Eucalyptus stump in our yard.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 13, 2016.  A few days later, another Chicken of the Woods sprouted on the sunny side of the stump.  By day three, it was already 9" tall by 4" wide.  Chicken of the Woods seem to prefer growing at the base of mature and dead Eucalyptus in the Red Car Property Neighborhood.  One of the questions mycologists ask when identifying mushrooms is, "What is it growing on?"

Click here for all our neighborhood mushrooms.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

 

Red Car Property: Baguette Or Mushroom?

Photo: Diane Edwardson, December 15, 2015.  Looking more like a baguette that's seen better days, it appears bugs have eaten the mushroom from the inside out - leaving the trail of frass on the outside.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

I noticed this mushroom growing in one of the few Eucalyptus trees that have not yet succumbed to drought/disease/infestation on the north end of the Red Car Property, just below Adelbert.  Unfortunately, the tree is in a really steep slope, so I can't climb up for a better shot.  

It caught my eye when it appeared to grow fringe Tuesday.  It's only about 5" tall.  I'd been hoping it would grow into a scenic Chicken of the Woods mushroom.  But it looks more like a French baguette gone bad.  We had a similar mushroom in our dead Eucalyptus stump last year, and we've seen mushrooms that look like discarded dinner rolls.  We'll call this one, "bug-eaten-baguette," until we get an ID.

New mushrooms seem to show up every year in the Red Car Property neighborhood.  Click here for all our fungus fun.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Corralitas Drive: Chicken Of The Woods Is Playing Chicken This Year

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 13, 2015.  Every fall, we look forward to the giant yellow mushroom sprouting at the base of a Corralitas neighbor's Eucalyptus Tree.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

According to Mykoweb, Chicken of the Woods is unlikely to be mistaken for another species.  The showy fungus does vary in its shade of yellow from year to year and even throughout its several week life span.  The large mushroom is generally more scenic than just a lump hiding in the iceplant, sprouting every year from the roots of the same tree, between October and early December.

Click here for all our neighborhood fungus. 

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Red Car Canyon: Fall Fungus Season

Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 10, 2015.  The Polypore mushroom is about 4" across this year.  In the past it's been as large as 8 - 12".  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Last week's rain combined with the high heat means it's time to check all the usual places for the scenic mushrooms.

Click here for all the fungi we've documented in the neighborhood.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Corralitas Drive: Fall Fungus Season

Photo: Diane Edwardson, september 21, 2015.  An Agaricus deserticola  popped up in the shade of a Hibiscus, where the communal semi-feral cat likes to hang out.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

I'd never seen these mushrooms  in the neighborhood until this year.  According to MycoWeb, they are a desert mushroom.  After 4 years of drought, they fit right in Los Angeles.  I've seen them in the desert, where they look just like rocks.  They seem to sprout about a week after a good rain, just like this one did.  

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Click here for all our fungus fun.

Corralitas Public Staircase: Another Unidentified Mushroom

*UPDATE 5-6-15: IDENTIFIED at end of post

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 1, 2015.  Friday, we noticed a rather large (4" tall) mushroom  had sprung from the earth adjacent the Corralitas Public Staircase.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The homeowner adjacent the public staircase recently landscaped the area next to the stairs. So we don't know if the mushroom hitched a ride in the plant nursery pots, potting soil or mulch.  Perhaps it had a foothold on the slope and escaped detection in years past, due to the fact that brush clearance on vacant lots was rarely done before July 1.

Earlier this year, we  documented a smaller version of what appears to be the same species, a few hundred feet up the street.  

We were unable to ID the species.  Try MykoWeb for one of the best guides to California mushrooms. *Update below

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research. 

*UPDATE 5-5-15: Identified.  Thanks to Michael Wood at MykoWeb, to whom I sent the mystery mushroom posts: Agaricus deserticola (AKA Longula texensis) are adapted for dry climates.

Red Car Property: Super Bright Mushrooms

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 18, 2015. A bunch of bright yellow mushrooms caught my eye at the north end of the Red Car Property.  The yellow was very, very bright & looked slimy.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 15, 2015.  The mushroom caps start off vibrant yellow when they first sprout, then fade to beige & eventually, shrivel into a leathery brown.  The largest of these mushrooms was about 3" in diameter.  No, I have no idea what they are, other than some form of "gilled mushroom."  

Click here for all the mushrooms we've documented in the neighborhood.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Corralitas Drive: Random Mushroom Is Not A Puffball

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 22, 2015.  It looks like it's some type of Agaric (gilled) mushroom that failed to open.  You can see the dried up gills inside.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

I was curious to see if the mushroom had changed since yesterday.  It looked like it either split open or someone or something pulled a piece of it open.  A Puffball Mushroom would have exploded with powdery spores.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

 

Corralitas Drive: Another Random Mushroom

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 21, 2015.  While talking to a neighbor, I noticed what looked like a 1.5" diameter, almost perfectly round rock at the base of her Climbing Fig.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Nope, not a rock.  Neither of us have seen a mushroom like this before.  

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Corralitas Drive: More Mushrooms

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 14, 2014.  We'd seen similar mushrooms in the same  location a few years ago.  (Click on photos to enlarge.) 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 14, 2015.  This year's mushroom seemed more of a deflated pancake than modern sculpture. 

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Red Car Property: Toadstools

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 5, 2015.  Last week, 6 - 8" diameter mushrooms sprouted in the the decaying leaf matter in Red Car Canyon.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 4, 2015.  How big are those mushrooms near Rose Scharlin?  My dog is a  Shepherd mix. 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 5, 2015.  I don't know if they were so large they fell over, or were knocked over.  

These giants are in the Agaric family (gilled mushrooms).  It's the most common type of mushroom, of which there are scores of varieties.   These may or may not be the same variety as the huge mushrooms we highlighted in 2010.

Check out Mykoweb for some really fantastic photos.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Lot C: Solitary Mushroom

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 4, 2015.  A lone, 2" tall, yellow mushroom sprouted on Lot C & was gone by the next day.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

February (the month when we see the most rain) is usually the month to photograph mushrooms on the Red Car Property, but with no rain in sight, the season seemed to last a week.  We're working through last week's photos.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Red Car Canyon: Perennial Mushrooms

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 4, 2015.  Some of the most interesting mushrooms sprouted in the canyon near the Charles Lacy Memorial.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 5, 2015.  They appear to be some type of Polypore Mushroom, a bracket-type, perennial mushroom.  (You can find growing in the same place year after year.) 

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 4, 2015.  The last time we saw this mushroom (in 2012) on this same tree it was about a foot across.  The largest one this year was about 3" across.  In this photo, there's a 2" diameter hiding between the roots.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Mushrooms & Ecosystems, Connecting The Dots: Feb 5, 2015, Mushroom Expert Gary Lincoff Speaks At Los Feliz Library

Photo: Diane Edwardson, December 17, 2012.  Red Car Canyon is an ideal place to observe interesting mushrooms.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Loyal readers of the Corralitas Red Car Property Blog know how often we crawl around in the mud to bring you the most interesting, unusual, delicate, beautiful & downright bizarre varieties of mushrooms growing on & around the Red Car Property.  Mushrooms are an important part of the ecosystem & help create healthy soil. 

Friends of Griffith Park lecture series  presents:

Mushrooms & Ecosystems...connecting the dots

Gary Lincoff, mushroom expert & author

Thursday, February 5, 2015

6:30 PM - 7:45 PM 

Los Feliz Branch Library

1874 Hillhurst Ave

Los Angeles, 90027

RSVP: rsvp@friendsofgriffithpark.org

Friends of Griffith Park's website is not up to date, but they are on Facebook. 

Click here for all the mushrooms we've documented in the Red Car Property neighborhood.

 

Corralitas Drive: Stuff You Missed This Year Random Mushroom

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 2, 2014.  While spectacular Chicken of the Woods mushrooms are known to grow elsewhere on Corralitas Drive & in Red Car Canyon, we got something that looked more like Chicken McNuggets.  This was as far as this unidentified mushroom got before drying out.

Click here for our catalog of neighborhood fungus fun.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Red Car Canyon: Chicken Of The Woods 1 Week Later; A Full Dinner Platter

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 18, 2014.  The Chicken of the Woods mushroom that had just sprouted so colorfully last week, flattened out to its full size and faded considerably.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 18, 2014.  The mushroom is a good 2 feet across.  (My boot measures 11 inches heel to toe.)

Click here for all our neighborhood mushroom posts.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Red Car Property: Sun Dried Mushrooms

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 16, 2014.  We've seen similar polypore mushrooms on this particular log before, just not so crispy.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.

Red Car Canyon: Chicken Of The Woods

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 10, 2014.  Measuring more than a foot across, a Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus gilbertsonii) mushroom is "fruiting" in its regular spot on a Eucalyptus tree on the path leading to the Red Car Property in the canyon.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

According to Mykoweb, you'll often find these exotic looking polypore mushrooms growing from the same spots in the same Eucalyptus trees each year in the fall.  The bright color fades after a couple of days.  Since Red Car Canyon has limited daylight year round, it tends to stay moist even in dry months. 

Click here for all our mushroom posts.

Disclaimer: The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity. MykoWeb is the resource everyone seems to refer to for mushrooms. The Los Angeles Mycological Society has a recommended reading list. 

If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research.