Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist, your own personal Google for information on all things natural on PEI. My inbox is overflowing with the question “why are so many Maple trees losing their leaves early this year”? In the trees I’ve seen, it’s due to Tar Spot fungus (Rhytisma acerinum). Tar Spot is the common name for several species of fungi in our region. There are a couple of native versions that infect native maples and willows, but the type that’s most prevalent now is

I love meeting a new-to-me mushroom, and so was quite happy when I found these among my favourite patch of King Boletes (aka Porcini) last week. Meet the aptly named Red-mouth Bolete (Neoboletus subvelutipes). Followers of this page will know that mushrooms with spongy pores rather than gills, folds, or teeth under the cap are boletes. (Not all boletes have spongy pores, but mushrooms that do are boletes. And if you haven’t been following this page, you can get caught up on

This year’s damp weather may not be popular with everyone, but it has been great for mushrooms! The abundance of fruiting fungi has brought out a crop of social media posts asking about edibility. Here are some tips to help you ask the right questions and get reliable answers! I love encouraging people to try wild plants and fungi, but I cringe every time someone asks “is this edible?” That should never be your first question; instead, start with “what is this, and how can I

Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist, your own personal Google for information on all things natural on PEI. I’ve been receiving photos of deformed Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) flowers from around the Maritimes, including this one from Tara Matheson here on PEI. The cause is a fungus, Taphrina confusa. Let’s take a look! Normal Chokecherry flowers have five white petals and grow in finger-like groups, called ‘racemes’ (inset photo). Once pollinated, each flower will form an

Late summer and fall may be peak mushroom seasons on PEI, but spring has fungi to find, too! While checking my go-to spots for Morels this week, I found lots of these Entolomatoid Mushrooms (Family Entolomataceae). I often ignore LBMs (little brown mushrooms) as being too hard to identify and above my skill level. However, as I gain experience in mushroom identification, I’ve started looking for clues that point to the Family. If you’ve attended any of my workshops, you’ll

This is a great time of year to spot a PEI fungust that's best known as a disease of Cherry trees: Black Knot ( Apiosporina morbosa ). Black Knot fungus forms distinctive, black galls on stems and branches of our native Pin Cherry and Chokecherry, as well as ornamental Cherries and Plums. While it’s unattractive, reduces fruit production, and may kill the infected branch, Black Knot doesn’t usually kill the entire tree unless the infection is very severe. Within those black

You may think there’s no old growth forest or wilderness on PEI, but that’s not true. We have amazing ancient and wild spaces if you know where to look and can recognize the signs. Lung Lichen ( Lobaria pulmonaria ) is one of those signs. A lichen is a unique creature: usually, it’s a combination of a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium functioning as one organism. But Lung Lichen is one PEI’s few tripartite lichens: it includes a fungus, a green alga, and a cyanobacter

The Island’s winter landscape is mostly monochrome, making the occasional burst of colour all that more beautiful. One of my favourite bright spots is the aptly-named Maritime Sunburst Lichen ( Xanthoria parietina ). Lichens are interesting in many ways, including how they survive our coldest months. Most living things go to great lengths to protect themselves from drying out or freezing: two major (and usually lethal) side effects of winter. That’s why PEI’s trees, plants, f

It’s been a busy year: more than 100 educational posts on the plants, fungi, and wildlife of PEI; 79 in-person events at 25 locations across the province; and one popular new book! I sincerely thank the more than 2,000 people who attended my public walks and talks, the 17,500 who follow me on Facebook and Instagram, everyone who visits this website, and all those who took the time to like, comment, or share my posts. I’m truly grateful to each of you for supporting this work.

Welcome to the final Mushroom Monday of 2025. We’ll end with a large and easy-to-identify species that hasn’t been recorded all that often on the Island: Northern Tooth ( Climacodon septentrionalis ). As we’ve seen throughout this series, mushrooms come in all shapes and sizes, and can share physical traits without being closely related. The spore-bearing surface of Northern Tooth has spine-like ‘teeth’ rather than gills, folds, or pores (inset photo). Despite this, it is m

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. Today we have not one species but a whole group that’s both reasonably easy to identify and edible: Suillus species, many of which are called Slippery Jacks. The first thing you’ll notice about a Slippery Jack is the feature that gives it that common name: a somewhat slimy or sticky cap. These mushrooms do indeed look slippery, especially after rain. Peek under that cap and you’ll see Slip

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. Not all mushrooms have the cap-and-stem look we tend to expect, and today’s species is a well-named example of a different format: meet Orange Peel Fungus ( Aleuria aurantia ). Orange Peel Fungus is one of the cup fungi, similar to the Scarlet Elfcup we looked at last spring (you can find it here: https://www.pei-untamed.com/post/scarlet-elf-cups ). Orange Peel Fungus’ most eye-catching feat

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. I taste-tested today’s species for the first time this year, and it’s now among my favourite edible wild mushrooms. Meet the Olive Shaggy Parasol ( Chlorophyllum olivieri ). Shaggy Parasols are large, eye-catching mushrooms that can be found in grassy, open areas as well as in forests (especially under Spruce). Field guides often list them as lookalikes for edible Shaggy Manes, but they’re n

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. Today’s species is both beautiful and delicious. Meet the Blewit ( Collybia nuda ). ‘Blewit’ is an odd-sounding name, and the most common explanation is that it’s a shortened form of ‘Blue Hat’, referring to the colour of younger specimens. That’s plausible, though I’m not entirely convinced: these mushrooms are more purple or lilac than blue (main photo). While distinctive, that colour is

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. It’s often helpful to use more than just sight when identifying mushrooms, and today’s species has a very distinctive smell. Meet Sweetbread Mushroom (aka The Miller, Clitopilus prunulus ). I confess that I generally don’t pay much attention to small mushrooms with white caps and gills. I’m sure they’re perfectly lovely, but I tend to assume they exceed my limited identification skills. Af

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. Little brown mushrooms can be tricky to identify, but today’s species has features that help it stand out: meet Mica Caps ( Coprinellus micaceus ). Mica Caps are part of the Inky Cap group of mushrooms, just like the Shaggy Manes ( Coprinus comatus ) I’ve posted about before. Although these two species share a similar approach to spore dispersal, they’re not closely related. As we’ve seen in

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. Today’s species is one I’ve known about for decades...

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. Today, it’s one of the most common and widespread...

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. This week we have the interesting, toxic, and...

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at PEI’s fascinating fungi. We’re staying with the Polypore group for another week to...