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Dylan

@dylansthoughts

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Join and follow our Mushroom Club! @chicagomushroomclub (check out our website!)
Chicago, IL, USA

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Ganoderma applanatum

We found this perennial polypore doing something super weird in LaBagh Woods; Chicago, Illinois. The steward of the land told us the fungus had been growing for at least 7 years. I think it’s on a cottonwood.

Fungi in the Ganoderma genus do interesting things when they grow. They will engulf whatever is in front of them. Twigs, leaves, and oddly enough, cicada molts!!

Apparently some cicadas thought the hymenium of this conk was a good place to molt. Their leftover molts were then engulfed by the fungus. We got photos of them at various stages.

I like to imagine the H.R. Giger saw something like this that inspired his work. This is still one of the coolest things I can remember finding in the forest.

Bonus Bolitotherus cornutus - fungus beetle chilling on the conk!
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#mycology #labaghwoods #fungi #mushrooms #cicada #chicago taken in LaBagh Woods by @dylansthoughts

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4 years ago

Cortinarius velicopius

Originally described from Ohio.

This fungus currently only has 10 observations on iNaturalist. One of those observations is from its place of origin, Ohio. All 9 other observations have been in Cook County, Illinois.

This is one of the deepest purple colors I’ve seen in the wild. Due to that, and the black fibrils streaked through the cap, I have dubbed this the Midnight Cort.

Hopefully the name sticks.
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#mycology #chicago #illinois #fungi #mushrooms #nature #urbanmycology #chi taken in Chicago, Illinois by @dylansthoughts

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4 years ago

Cortinarius atkinsonianus

We found these in some seriously pitiful dirt. Basically a forgotten grove behind what looked like an abandoned school or plant of some kind. It was shocking to see these colors in a bleak section of woods.

These photos highlight the cortina. An identifying feature of mushrooms from the genus (or several genera now.. story for another day) Cortinarius. The cortina is a wispy veil that covers the immature gills. As the mushroom matures, it leaves these beautiful strands connecting cap to stem.

The holes in the mushrooms and “bite” marks are from slugs. These are probably my favorite photos of the year.
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#mycology #chicago #fungi #science #macro taken in Chicago, Illinois by @dylansthoughts

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4 years ago

We're going International baby! 🥳🌎🍄✨ On Saturday Oct 19th at 5:30, let's give a warm welcome to Mead & Dylan, who are coming all the way from the Windy City to tell you stories about the world's most iconic & recognizeable mushroom: the Amanita Muscaria (and it's close relatives!)

These two fungi connoisseurs founded the Chicago Mushroom Club, and they'll be taking a deep dive into the strange, magical & fascinating history of the Amanitas & the surprising ways humans have approached them throughout history!

If you're into mushroom LORE, then *amanita* you to buy a ticket! 😄🎟️
See you there! 😇🙌

#MontrealMushroomFestival #MontrealEvents #AmanitaMuscaria #Mushrooms by @dylansthoughts

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2 years ago

Arrhenia mushrooms.
#happyhunting #foraging #mushrooms #Hiking #fungi taken in Chicago, Illinois by @dylansthoughts

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2 years ago

Gloiodon strigosus is an effused-reflexed, hydnoid fungus. The ombré stilettos draped from the hymenophore contrast the shaggy, umber pileus.

Devin and I found this specimen on a downed hardwood log covered in moss. It was tucked into a pocket in the wood, carved out by a woodpecker.

G. strigosus is the type species of the genus Gloiodon. Recent studies have moved this genus to the family Bondarzewiaceae despite it previously being placed with Auriscalpium.

G. strigosus is relatively common in North America, but underdocumented. In Europe, the species is rare, even making Polands red-list for organisms in peril. This may be due to its connection to old, well preserved forests.
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#mycology #mushroomphotography #macrophotography #photostack #gloiodonstrigosus taken in Hammondsville, Ohio by @dylansthoughts

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2 years ago

We started Northern Mycology Club while we were living in the densely wooded Upper Peninsula of Michigan, then we decided to move to Chicago. What kind of mushroom lovers move out of the woods? Smart ones, apparently! After moving, we immediately noticed an abundance of mushrooms littering the streets, species that we had never found in years of scouring deep rural forests. Not many other people seemed to be noticing them.

Another thing we noticed is Chicagoans don’t have our own mycology club. Well, we do now.

Introducing the Chicago Mushroom Club, a branch of Northern Mycology.

We offer free education to city dwellers who want to explore the universe beneath their feet, not only out in the burbs; but in their courtyards, side-streets, and crooked old alleyway trees.

Lets be honest, we can’t all always make it out to the Forest Preserves. Chicago Mycology Club offers accessible community based education for fellow nature-minded Chicagoans.

Our name has changed, but we are still the same mushroom loving weirdos.

In order to supplement website costs and devote more time and effort to CMC, we will be dropping a line of merch.

Our merch is ethically sourced and upcycled. All pieces of merch will be one-of-a-kind. Some may be vintage, or unique.

To reflect our anti-capitalist stances, our merch will be affordable and proceeds will directly fund club-related progression.

As always, we love y’all and hope to see you soon.

Dylan and Mead 🩷🍄

#chicago #mycology #urbanmycology #mushrooms #urbanmushrooms #foraging #club #chi taken in Chicago, Illinois by @dylansthoughts

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3 years ago

Pandora sp.

At our most recent NMC meetup, we found possibly the coolest fungal find of our lives.

Fungi aren’t as obviously abundant in parks, so we were searching high in low.

In this search, we found some oak galls, created by wasps.

Specifically, we found Disholcaspis quercusmamma. (Photo 9 shows the intact gall)

This parasitic wasp lays its eggs into the stem of the bur oak tree. This causes the stem to mutate into spherical incubation chambers for the larvae.

Apparently, ants have been observed collecting similar galls, and hoarding them in their nests for seemingly unknown reasons.

I snagged an old gall off the stem of the tree to show our club members. I decided to bisect the gall to see what it looked like inside.

Inside the gall was an ant, covered in a zygomycete fungus called Pandora, a close relative of Entomopthora.

I theorize the ant was enticed to the gall by whatever gall mechanism entices ants. The gall was already empty so the fungally confused ant climbed in and found a perfect burial chamber until I disturbed it’s rest.

Anyone ever seen this??
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#chicago #mycology #chi #urbanmycology #mushrooms #chicagonature taken in Chicago, Illinois by @dylansthoughts

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3 years ago

Cordyceps tenuipes, fruiting from the pupa of an insect, I think a moth.

Yesterday, 9/15/23, @mmmeaddd and I went out to the suburbs to look for Grifola frondosa. We found one small fruiting, but it wasn’t very photogenic.

Luckily, we came across something unique on the edge of the bike path.

All we could see were the tiny white antlers sticking through the bike-path moss. We excavated on a hunch, and found this beauty. How odd to know this is happening EVERYWHERE.

Bonus pics:

9 - Phleogena faginea, an odd basidiomycete fungus that looks like a slime mold but is firm to the touch.

10 - Arrhenia sp. - these usually get called Arrhenia epichysium but I’m unsure.
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#mycology #chicago #mushrooms #chi #fungi taken in Chicago, Illinois by @dylansthoughts

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3 years ago

September 17th, 2023

Meet us at Legion Park - East Playground (Near Hollywood Ave).

We will be meeting at the playground at 11 AM!

This Long stretch of park runs along the North Shore Channel. We can walk up the channel, cross over, and walk back down.

This walk will be more accessible than a lot of our meetups due to the paved path.

Our meetups are family friendly, queer friendly, relaxed, and free!

We hope to see you this weekend!
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#chicago #mycology #mushrooms #fungi #chi taken in Chicago, Illinois by @dylansthoughts

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3 years ago

Our meetup in Glenview Woods on 9/25 was bone-dry, but the mushrooms didn’t seem to mind.

I’m compiling a list of all the organisms we have found during our hikes together. I’ll share the link soon so you can see everything we’ve found.

Here’s what we found!

1 - a mysterious Psathyrellaceae.. for now, I’m calling it Britzelmayria sp.
2 - Omphalotus illudens, jacks.
3 - Laetiporus sulphureus, chickens.
4 - Lanmaoa pseudosensibilis. I call this genus water-color boletes. Lan Mao was a mushroom nerd from the 1400s. He made medicine from fungi. This new(ish) genus was named after him in honor of his affinity for boletes.
5 - Lanmaoa pallidorosea, I mean come on, so cute.
6 - Cantharellus chicagoensis. I’m realistically confident in this ID as the stature and greenish hue of young specimens matches the description.
7 - Caloboletus inedulis. I’m assuming it tastes bad, but it looks so nice.
8 - Pholiota polychroa showing it’s vibrant feathery cap.
9&10 - Entoloma sp. Photo 10 shows the same mushroom fluorescing neon green under 365nm UV light.
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#chicago #chi #mycology #mushrooms #fungi taken in Chicago, Illinois by @dylansthoughts

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3 years ago

September 9th, 2023
Meet us at Willow Springs Woods,
Picnic Grove #2 at 11 AM!

This one is a bit further out, so plan ahead for travel time, also let’s hope for some rain before Saturday!

The location for this meetup was originally set for the lot off of Maple Lake, but, we will actually be meeting further north, near the main stretch of Willow Springs Woods.

The location is geotagged on our website. The picnic grove is right off of Flavin Rd.

If anyone wants a link to the exact location please send us a DM!

Wear long pants as poison ivy is common in this area! We may walk off the path during our outing, so please be cautious of plantlife and leaving no trace! We look forward to seeing you again!!

Please keep in mind that we will be stopping frequently during our walk, which may be obnoxious to younger folks. When we find something, we stop to discuss our find. It is best if the group all stays together so everyone can see and hear!

Our meetups are family friendly, relaxed, and free!

Upon arriving, we will walk together as a group through the forest. Along the way, we will discuss the fungi we find, their identifying features, and their importance to the ecosystem.

Due to our meetups typically taking place in Illinois Forest Preserves, we will not be harvesting any of the fungi we find.

We will however be observing, documenting, photographing, and discussing our finds.
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#mycology #chicago #fungi #mushrooms #science taken in Willow Springs Woods by @dylansthoughts

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3 years ago