Evan Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 My neighbor and I were scouting the woods for the upcoming archery season and found a giant flush of jack o'lantern mushrooms. They were dispersing spores like crazy. I was able to get a decent close up. The light was hitting them just right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Smalldridge Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Great shot! I've never seen this happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted September 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 This is a first for me too. It looked like smoke coming off of them. The smell was almost almost overwhelming. I actually choked on the spores when I got close enough for the picture, which I took with my phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaypsnyder Posted September 25, 2016 Report Share Posted September 25, 2016 Great photo! It baffles me that mushrooms release so many thousands of spores and like zero mushrooms grow around them.... do only a couple mushrooms really make it out of the thousands released? Like why wouldn't you find a couple flushes in the area of this mushroom in the future? Idk... it just seems like no mushrooms are growing at my place where there used to be quite a few Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipjargendy Posted September 25, 2016 Report Share Posted September 25, 2016 Wow that is a really cool photo. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troutddicted Posted September 26, 2016 Report Share Posted September 26, 2016 Intense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWlake Posted September 27, 2016 Report Share Posted September 27, 2016 I wonder if you can get the poisoning from breathing the spores? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted September 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2016 I hope not. I breathed in quite a few, enough to make me cough. I haven't had any negative effects so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted September 30, 2016 Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 Cool photo! Jaypsnyder, with a saprobic species like Omphalotus illudens (Jack 'o Lantern), the fungus colonizes dead/dying organic matter --in this case wood/roots-- and produces mushrooms when the time/conditions are right. When the nutrients are used up, the fungus expires. For some species (like Armillaria mellea) newly germinating spores produce mycelium that may merge with a previously-existing established fungus of the same type. It seems to me that this feature may either help to spread the established fungus into nearby areas, or perhaps with some species just reinforce the fungal colonization in some highly localized way. But, I'm guessing that the probability is extremely low that a spore finds a completely new habitat and then begins the complete fungal life cycle from the very beginning. This would explain why so many spores are dispersed. The probability of winning a state lottery with a given combination of numbers is very low. But if you purchase millions of tickets, your chances are pretty good that you will hit at least one winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaypsnyder Posted September 30, 2016 Report Share Posted September 30, 2016 Thanks dave.... guess that explains why I see mushrooms in one place then never again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mycological_breakdown Posted October 1, 2016 Report Share Posted October 1, 2016 Found a few clusters of em on my nature walk today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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