Fun Fungal Games...

Catching up with the blog world the last couple of days, I ran across Pixie, who has discovered a great way to make blogs interactive—and way fun—at Name The Mushroom. She awards brownie points if you're the first to identify a posted photo, and I'm happy to report that a shroom neophyte like yours truly got one right (sort of)! She's posting from the UK, with fun guys from Iceland and other faraway places, just to make the game more challenging.

So, if it's not too late for Halloween, here is my own local version of Dead Man's Fingers, Clavaria purpurea. Although it's claimed to be edible, it's so unappetizing I can't imagine trying it.

Pixie is kindly giving me credit for guessing the common name, but names her quite different species Xylaria polymorpha. It allegedly occurs "throughout North America," according to the Audubon guide, but as it prefers maple and beech stumps, I doubt we have much of it here in Colorado, as Evenson's Mushrooms of Colorado confirms.

I haven't yet posted my promised mushroom field trip reports, but earlier mushroom-lover insights can be found over on Small Wonders.

Pixie says my brownie points are on the way. Can't wait!