Recessed Moss-Ball

Fencepost of the Week #191
 

 

Late Summer Post

Fencepost of the Week #190
 

 

 A nice assemblage with late-summer vibes.

 

 

Alder Tongue

 

These strange growths on alder cones are cause by a fungus - Taphrina alni - but they are actually galls. Like the structures produced by gall-wasps, the natural growth of the plant is distorted by the fungus to produce distinctive structures for its benefit.

Taphrina alni - alder tongue

Taphrina alni - alder tongue

Taphrina alni - alder tongue

Taphrina alni - alder tongue

Mouldy Ruby Bolettes

These are ruby bolettes - Hortiboletus rubellus. They seem to be emerging from the ground already coated in a thick layer of white mould.

 Here's a photo taken at the same spot a few years ago, with less mould:

A Cup Lichen Fringe

 Fencepost of the Week #189

A Cornucupia

 Fencepost of the Week #188

Star Slime

 Fencepost of the Week #187

This fencepost has been used as a butchering block by some bird feasting on frogs. The ground around was littered with discarded globs of star slime - the inedible jelly which frogs and toads lay their eggs in. At this time of year the slime does not yet contain the eggs, but if you look around near the slime, you can often find a blackish blobby mass of eggs.