Light of Morn
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Mid-Winter Fungus Foray
Filoli Center, January 2001
A knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide, like Filoli Nature Docent Bill Freedman, adds to
the enjoyment of a mushroom foray. Colorful mushrooms, like the Candy Caps on the left,
favor sheltered forest areas. While Oyster mushrooms, on the right, favor tree trunks and logs.
A group of "LBOs" (little brown ones).
Learning to recognize key mushroom traits helps with identification.
On the left, a colorful "Slippery Jack"; on the right, a pair of mauve-tinged Blewits.
Favoring the forest floor, the Common Brown Cup can grow quite large.
Bill encourages the use of a magnifying glass to fully appreciate complex fungus types.
"Turbin Caps" completely curl up as they spore until they resemble little turbans.
This beautiful "marmalade" cat accompanied us for a while.
Our foray group enjoyed the hushed solitude of the Filoli gardens in winter.
A tiny mushroom reaches for the light among decaying leaves on the forest floor.
In winter, these deer bones and antlers provide much needed calcium for mice
and other woodland creatures. They will be nibbled alway completely by summer.
Fairy Rings can be found annually in ever-widening circles.

To find your own guided mushroom foray, visit the following websites:
Elkhorn Slough, Mid-Peninsula Open Space District.
Or, join the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz or the Mycological Society of San Francisco.
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