Fred's photos from Wheaton Labs

I've heard that photography is the art of seeing.

You certainly have the eyes for it Fred sir! I love seeing your photos here and your interest and insight into the biology and ecosystem there is inspiring! I hope I can do something like that here in the future.

What resources do you use for plant, creature, and mushroom IDs?

The second set of photos are of the same clump of mushrooms. These were just growing on the ground near the path. One photo is from above and one from below showing the pores (not gills) and the veil on one of the younger mushrooms.

Those look like they could be the Suillus genus (slippery jack, fat jack, etc).  The Suillus are edible, but not the nicest of mushrooms.  I ended up powdering them and putting them into crackers where the taste is masked by other things.  But with enough garlic and butter and salt and long enough cooking they can be okay fresh.

Thanks L!

L. Johnson wrote:
What resources do you use for plant, creature, and mushroom IDs?

The state of Montana has an online field guide, but it is not complete. Mostly i just stumble through search engine images. Someone once planned to send a book for Montana mushrooms, but it never arrived.

Philip McGarvey wrote:
Those look like they could be the Suillus genus (slippery jack, fat jack, etc).  The Suillus are edible, but not the nicest of mushrooms.  I ended up powdering them and putting them into crackers where the taste is masked by other things.  But with enough garlic and butter and salt and long enough cooking they can be okay fresh.

I have not been able to ID those beyond the Suillus genus. There always seems to be one or two characteristics that are different from the guide books. Just last week i heard someone at the Radical Mycology Convergence telling how they used slippery jacks in crackers because they couldn't find another use that was palatable...was that you?

The spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium) has turned a beautiful golden color for fall. This plant was historically used for cordage. The ones on the lab and basecamp don't usually get more than a foot or so tall, making for a short fiber. The ones that grow near a river are sometimes 3 feet tall, which would be more useful. Plant is generally poisonous, but has some potential medicinal uses.

Fred Tyler wrote:
I have not been able to ID those beyond the Suillus genus. There always seems to be one or two characteristics that are different from the guide books. Just last week i heard someone at the Radical Mycology Convergence telling how they used slippery jacks in crackers because they couldn't find another use that was palatable...was that you?

Haha, yeah that was me.

I'm not aware of any suillus that are not edible - at least around here, so I don't try too hard to ID them to species.  There is obviously variation - I think I've eaten fat jack, slippery jack, and slimy fat jack, and probably others.  There palatability does vary by species, so it may be worth doing... but since I only eat them for the nutrition and not the flavor, I just lump them all together.  I go mainly for the younger firmer ones though.

I've got a few more mushrooms to share.  There are so many mushrooms right now. Every few feet in the woods i am stopping at a new friend.

The first two photos are probably the same fungus. They were close together at the base of a hugelberm at the Abbey. The second photo are of older specimens and have opened up more and faded a bit.

The third photo is of the shaggy parasol (Chlorophyllum rhacodes). These were growing in the wood chips beneath one of the tulip poplar trees i found in Missoula. They had been kicked over and were a little dried out. I brought them home thinking maybe the spores or mycelium at the stem base could take hold on my plot. These are generally considered an edible mushroom, but some people can have an allergic-type reaction to them. So, caution should be taken if trying to consume them, and an ID must include a white spore print.

Here's some photos of more seeds i collected in Missoula. These will be planted on my plot.

In the first photo are the fruits of mountain ash. Many species of birds and mammals eat the fruit of this shrubby tree. Fruit is edible, but not that tasty.

In the second photo are some black walnuts, in the husk. These may produce nuts are young as 5 or 6 years old, but won't have substantial crops until around 20 years old.

The third photo is of sugar maple seeds. It usually takes about 30 years for a sugar maple to grow big enough to tap for syrup.

I brought a big bag of black walnut for Jeff to make dye.  Not sure that ever happened.  They may still be kicking around the seed room.

I'm not the only one in the woods interested in mushrooms. The bushy tailed wood rat and maybe also some squirrels collect and dry mushrooms for winter food storage. Several years ago, before the abbey was so well sealed, one of the bushy tailed wood rats decided that would be a good place to overwinter. They started filling up one of my boxes with dried mushrooms and pieces of lichen. I've since learned their methods and got a few pictures of mushrooms in their solar dehydrators to share with y'all. I've made a detailed study of this design and will be posting plans for sale soon, if anyone wants to attempt building one themselves. :)

Beau Davidson wrote:I brought a big bag of black walnut for Jeff to make dye.  Not sure that ever happened.  They may still be kicking around the seed room.

The bag is in the shop.

A few days ago i found what looked like bear scat on the path between the abbey and the teepee. Last night Jeff said he saw "black shadow" moving into the shrubs as he was driving away from the teepee. Today i found some bear tracks on the road between the teepee and my plot.

The first photo is the first track i saw. It is partial print and just the creases on his palm print and a little imprint from the hair around it, but i recognized it from other tracks i've seen. Then i looked for more.

The second photo is the second track i found about 10 feet down the road. More of the same...palm crease and hair. It confirmed my suspicion that the bear was walking down the road. To find more tracks I had to backtrack and ended up finding several much more obvious tracks I hadn't noticed when I first passed.

The third track was more clearly a bear. Here you can see the imprint from the palm and toes of a front foot. It was a bit of a stretch with my macro lens, but i included my hand for size reference. He's a pretty small bear. I wonder if it is the same one i saw earlier this summer at the abbey. That one was about the size of a medium dog. Maybe a juvenile just separated from mom.

The next two photos show the elongated imprint of the hind foot. The creases seem to match the ones in the first tracks i found.

The last photo is the scat i found near the  abbey.