For as long as I can remember I've been fascinated with mushrooms. From what I've seen on Steemit I'm not the only one, so I'll share one of my finds.
These ones I ran into last year, when walking through some of the ancient forests on the Sunshine Coast, in British Columbia. I had never before seen one in the flesh but I knew them from books and online pictures. They go by the name of Strawberry and Cream, or Bleeding Tooth mushrooms. The Latin name is a less inspiring Hydnellum peckii. They are VERY strange to look at.
They are not poisonous, though inedible due to their intensely bitter flavour. I did not have the guts to try, neither did I pick one - I tend not to. I did take a few snaps that turned out pretty good, even though they were just taken on a phone.
I was pretty lucky to find them when I did. Only the young mushroom bodies have that distinct appearance. Once they get older they turn brown and pretty nondescript, so they go largely unnoticed.
It is not yet known what exactly the liquid is that is forced through the mushroom's surface, but they do know that the red colour comes from a pigment that is found in the mushroom. More interesting chemical compounds are found in this particular mushroom, including - apparently - something called thelephoric acid (I looked that up) which may some day help cure Alzheimers (so I won't have to look it up again).
The presence of this particular mushroom is also a tell-tale sign of an old and healthy environment. All the more reason to be happy to have found it that day.
Good article
Amazing.
Wow!! I've never seen this in my life!!
First one for me too! Apparently they are relatively common. Who knows, I may have crossed them many times but - since they look like this for a brief period only - they are easy to miss.
This is the first i have seen this! So take the red pill? o.O All joking aside I hope they do find away to cure Alzheimer's disease.
I hope so too. Who knows what treasures we can still discover in nature. Don't forget that the humble Aspirin started life as a bit of tree bark.
lol, I always feel attraction for mushroom too we call it "setas" I want resteem this looks amazing
In Dutch (my native tongue) we call it "paddenstoelen". Go for it and resteem away! :)
Ik praat en betje dutch xd ook :)
Ah, hablo un poquito de español tambien! :)
Great photos, these are awesomely disgusting! I'm currently in the process of making a series of mushroom paintings , so these are going to be good for reference!
Oh wonderful! Looking forward to your art. I'll see if I can dig up some more mushroom pics later...
So I dug a little more and turns out I have two more pictures of these mushrooms in a further stage of life. As you can see, the red liquid excretions die down, moving further and further away from the centre. Then the mushroom slowly turns an inconspicuous brown. Unless you're familiar with them, they are almost unrecognisable. Woooo magical! 😀
ooh nice, I'm gonna have to start hunting mushrooms myself to photograph them... it seems like fun.