#Applanatum

Ganoderma Appalanatum is a long living mushroom, a single fruit can stay on a log for up to 10 years! #mushrooms #fungi #mycology #artistsbracket

When you draw on them and they are still living, the black slowly fades. If you break them off, the color stays. #fungi #mushroom #foraging #pilze #hiking #champiñones #champignons🍄 #hongos #natureartistry

Ink Cap mushrooms, not for eating, but for painting! #naturalink #mushrooms #inkcap

Forest coral | Clavulina cristata a mushroom of the PNW #mushrooms #mycology #foraging #fungi #pnw

We were posing with giant mushrooms long before guys posed with fish on the internet. 🍄🎣 For over 45 years, we’ve been photographing fungi not to flex, but to document, preserve, and protect species at risk—long before “functional mushrooms” became a trend.* And for the record: 👉 We never harvest wild Agarikon (Fomitopsis officinalis aka Laricifomes officinalis) or other sensitive species for products. 👉 We take tiny, non-invasive samples, then grow mushroom mycelium on our certified organic farm in Washington state. 👉 Many of the rare specimens in our culture library were entrusted to us by loggers and forest workers who didn’t want to see them lost forever. So yes—we’ve got a lot of mushroom “trophy photos”… but the only thing we’ve been catching is biodiversity. 🫶🍄 Follow @HostDefense for how this research becomes supplements. *𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚛𝚞𝚐 𝙰𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚜𝚎, 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝, 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚎, 𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎. #mycology

Reishi Antlers 🛸🪸 Crazy to imagine something microscopic creating a fortress this massive. 🥴 Shown are 3 different subspecies of Ganoderma that I've grown over the last few years. I tend to keep the big ones as display pieces for markets and classes! We will be growing new ones from scratch and will be showing the process as we naturally reach each step. Stay tuned! 🪷 As usual we are juggling well over a dozen projects. 😃😃😃 #fungi #plants #biology #science #tissueculture

Field Notes: October 19, 2025 Location: Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Forest, Washington Encounter Summary: The forest floor was a tapestry of neon-green moss draped over decaying logs. On one such nurse log, I spotted a vibrant cluster of bright, waxy orange, looking for all the world like a delicate species of coral fungus (perhaps a *Ramaria*). It was small, no larger than a half-dollar, and its branching structure looked incredibly fragile, as noted by my companion. I reached out with my index finger, intending only to test the texture of the "coral". The instant my skin made gentle contact, the creature reacted. It was not a fungal crumbling, but a silent, synchronous explosion of life. Every single orange tip burst open, unfurling into a tiny, five-petaled white flower with a bright yellow center. In less than a second, the orange fungus was gone, replaced by a dense, stunning bouquet of white blooms. This is the work of Clavaria florifera, known to local guides as the "Fingertip Posy". It is a masterful, twofold evolutionary strategy. Primarily, it engages in fungal mimicry, appearing as an unpalatable, bright-orange coral. This warns off most foragers. However, the gentle touch of a curious, larger creature—like a human, a raccoon, or a deer—provides the trigger. The "bloom" is a rapid, mechanical unfurling of pre-formed petals, a deimatic display meant to startle the creature that touched it. This defensive action has been brilliantly co-opted for pollination. The instant bloom releases a powerful, sweet scent, undetectable when in its coral form, which attracts a specific species of fungus gnat. The local Quinault and Hoh storytellers speak of this. They call it the "Forest's Welcome". It is said the forest tests the spirit of those who pass through. If you are aggressive or careless, you will see only a simple fungus. But if you are gentle and move with curiosity, the forest will bloom at your touch as a sign of greeting. It is a profound reminder that the softest touch can reveal the most spectacular secrets. . More at @oleg.pars Made with @krea_ai K-1 & @soraofficial Adm @claudya_maciel72 #cryptid #aiart #digitalart #conceptart #natgeo

Spalted wood. Not just pretty patterns but evidence of territory wars taking place beyond our sight! Sensing competition, fungi create these melanin rich walls, with gum and resin to keep out intruders and stake claim to territory. #wildlife #fungi #nature #conservation

Meet Chlorociboria aeruginascens aka the blue green elf cup! This amazing little wood decayer also stains what it grows on. The wood is often used for wood spalting and my friend Sarah Molitch is using it to dye fibers. Isn’t that neat? #backpackbiology #pnwliving #vibes #foraging #nerdlife #nofilter #Washington #learningisfun #outdoors #mycology #mushrooms #woodworking #fungi

Found silently clinging to the bark of a living tree in the Central Ceylon Highland Forests, this dark, rock-hard mushroom isn’t dead wood at all — it’s a Ganoderma conk, one of the most powerful and mysterious fungi in tropical forests. Here are 3 wild secrets hiding in plain sight 👇 🕳️ SECRET 1: This mushroom is OLDER than you think This isn’t a “one-season” mushroom. Ganoderma grows year after year, adding a new layer annually — like tree rings. Some specimens survive 10–20 years, slowly turning from glossy brown to jet-black armour as they age. What you’re seeing here is likely a decade of silent growth. ➡️ In forests, age = power. 🧠 SECRET 2: It can “remember” the tree’s life The underside of this fungus (not visible here) can be scratched to reveal brown lines — which is why it’s called Artist’s Conk. But here’s the wild part: Each growth layer records droughts, injuries, insect attacks, and stress the tree experienced. Scientists can read these layers to understand forest history. ➡️ This mushroom is a living archive. ⚰️ SECRET 3: It kills… without killing Ganoderma causes white rot, digesting lignin from inside the tree. The tree may look healthy for years while its internal strength is slowly hollowed out. Eventually, the tree falls — not violently, but naturally — creating space for new forest life. ➡️ Destruction… as renewal. 🌿 Not edible. Not soft. Not harmless. This is a forest engineer, quietly shaping ecosystems in Sri Lanka’s highlands. Next time you pass one — remember — the forest is always working, even when it looks still. 📍 Central Ceylon Highland Forests 🎥 Macro | Nature | Forest Secrets #Ganoderma #SriLankaForests #WildMushrooms #FungalSecrets #NatureReel #MacroNature #ForestMysteries #HiddenLife 🍄🌳

Thoughts on my alter ego Grimblewood Thornwhisker?Thinking about calling him Grimblewood the Brown instead? Yay or Nay? Is he a good narrator for my new project Myco Motion? Obviously I think so, but what do you think? 🧙🏻‍♂️ 🍄‍🟫 🌳 #timelapse #mycology #fungi #mycomotion

Fungi Dialogues | 🍄‍🟫 between human and fungi, material and growth, control and collaboration #myceliumcomposite #ganoderma #oystermushrooms