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 PEI’s fascinating fungi. We’re staying with the Polypore group for another week to...

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s fascinating fungi. The dry weather has made it a poor year for most...

On PEI, September means a few things: the end of summer, the start of school, and the return of Mushroom Mondays! Over the past couple of...

I’m intrigued by colourful fungi and have a special fondness for purplish ones. I was thus very happy to come across these Violet-toothed...

This spring, I’ve been introducing you to some of PEI’s early-season fungi. Today’s example hits the trifecta: it’s common, easy to...

The word ‘mushroom’ often conjures up an image of a white or brown cap-and-stem fungus, but mushrooms come in a variety of shapes, sizes,...

Fall may be peak mushroom season on PEI, but fungi can be found at all times of year.  One that I’m seeing a lot right now is the...

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s easy-to-identify fungi. Today’s mushroom may be small, but that...

Welcome back to Mushroom Monday, your weekly look at some of PEI’s easy-to-identify fungi. Today it’s one of our common polypores,...

Welcome back to Ask a Naturalist: your own personal “Google” for information on all things natural on PEI.  This time of year, I get a...