The Vault Dweller

I think you're going to have to turn it over fully and cut it open. To be fair this is so big that for that shape I don't feel like it could realistically be a fungi. I know plenty of slime molds have bizarre and random shapes, but they don't get this big even closely. Though that only makes identifying this that much more curious.

The pictures are done well and have multiple angles, but you missed on very important thing. What is your regional location? Also you said your yard which means grass, but were these in an area that's grass all around or were there any scattered trees and if so what kind?

I've found old oyster mushrooms and they like to change to this color along with sagging or curling around the edges of the cap when they're old.

I read this article which I'm glad you linked. I do realize that the likelihood of various medicinal fungi is quite high, but I'm sure with so many that some are of use. As the paper states what's really missing is numerous and well-conducted studies on their viability.

Yeah I'm in Northwest Pennsylvania and I don't start looking for fungi until mid-April at the earliest.

I would help if I can. I'm not sure what it is you need from participants though.

I frequently find what seems to be algae (I figured bacteria growth at first) growing on old hard-bodied fungi like these.

Dave can I assume the 'cyclops' Amanita is one you discovered on your own? I'm really hoping to hear you found an undiscovered species.

The Ganoderma that appear in my region (northwest Pennsylvania) only show up in the first week of June and by the end of the month are discolored and insect-eaten.

I always full spray my body with repellent and even in the highest heat wear long white socks so I can easily see dark ticks climbing up.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/06/how-to-tame-a-zombie-fungus/562544/

The pattern makes it look painted like a classic oil painting!

Some Ganoderma. Since it's on clearly dead wood I doubt it's G. tsugae and since it must have a long stalk to come 'up' like that I'd also say it could be G. curtisii, but the color is different.

I have NEVER found G. tsugae without also finding them. When the mushroom first appears (in early June) they usually are on 1/4 of the fruiting bodies, but by the end of June most are eaten/rotted away and the rest are swarming with these.

If you wait a few days for them to spread and 'fan' out you'll be able to harvest more.

I remember when I first found Monotropa uniflora and learning there were parasitic plants which didn't perform photosynthesis. I was beyond surprised they existed and amazed I found some in person. This is great too!

I learned all this from a guide last year, but had I not your video would have explained it much faster and in better detail. I liked watching it just seeing how well you included all the data.

As someone whose found Ganoderma tsugae often and in large amounts I've considered making this both, because hopefully it has medicinal properties and if not at least it's a neat novelty. Last year I took multiple large shelves and tried preserving them different ways to see what works best just sitting open air (control), cutting into cubes and dehydrating, and cutting into cubes and putting it in water in an airtight container. By now I should know which preservation method is best, but after that I have to use the best preserved to make some tea and with this years findings I'll preserve and/or make the same way.

I have The National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America on the side of my desk where it's been for years and used countless times. It has his name. I also met him at the NAMA 2016 foray.

Hi Carole. I live in NEPA and the many large wilderness areas make for lots of great places to find fungi! By chance I actually am also from Southern California (La Crescenta) and am currently near Lehighton, PA.

Wow what a great re-make of that song!

I like being in nature, identifying organisms is fun and somewhat educational, and fungi are so unstudied that I can contribute to studies just by finding and cataloging them online. Someday I might even feel confident enough to eat what I identify as edible!

That's the most work I've ever seen from someone so new!

Glad to have another person so interested in the science of it all!

I've found this multiple times and EACH time it's in a huge cluster and highly degraded.