In Virginia, I have been noticing more than ever the wide variety of mushrooms. I started photographing them with a couple of my lights. This time of year seems to be the fungi festival. Moist, not too hot, not too cold. I haven't reached the point of foraging as I am still a bit weary of proper identification.
Composting in Virginia versus New York City has been much easier and less strategic housing rotting organic matter for disposal. I have taken a similar route to deposit the compost material in an old fallen tree in the woods. This week, I noticed a couple peculiar-looking flowers busting through the ground leaf layers. The first picture I made with my phone caught a bee going for one of the flowers. Upon returning, there are even more flowers breaking through the ground layer.
After some research, I identified the flower as Monotropa hypopitys or "Dutchman's Pipe." It is related to Monotropa uniflora ("Indian Pipe"), more pale and white than the red-yellow variety I found. They do seem to have some historical medicinal uses by Cherokee but there are also concerns about the level of toxins so I won't be cooking this one up either. They are rare and people are encouraged not to over-pick them.
The curious thing about these pipe plants is that they do not get their energy from the sun or produce chlorophyll (which makes most plants green). Instead, they are integrated into a mycorrhizal relationship with trees and fungi, creating an exchange of resources needed by either party. The pipe flowers get their nutrients from the trees with help from the fungi.
It was a rather exciting and nerdy realization that I had found another angle to my mushroom photo project. The flowers are not growing out of the compost pile but are about 20 feet from it. But I wonder if those added nutrients are encouraging growth. Maybe it is just a coincidence.
Finding Fungi and Friends
I enjoy your photos Tom.