It was early September…just right after Labor Day and my I…geezer and wife and geezerette…decided to execute a little late summer camping at our favorite spot, Housatonic Meadows State Park, a bit above Cornwall Bridge in upper western Connecticut. The weather conditions can get a bit nippy at night that time of year in northern CT, however, the occasions might be just grand together with the river water remains tolerably hot and also the trout continue to be starved and, very well, it is an excellent time to camp…hardly some people there. Sure, a few weekend and bowhunters overnighters although the hunters are well behaved as well as the weekenders are sometimes sociable and we have met people which are nice there.

I started to be interested, at first, in fungi in the Kettletown S. P. on the lower Housatonic River. We’ve been there but two times and the first time we had been pretty large on a hill above the river and the weather was warm and damp…good for fungi to thrive…and, though we were not “into” mushrooming at that point in time, we kept stumbling upon these beautiful and varied organisms…you cannot actually call them plants…I think I counted about 18 different species in the area of 90 minutes, just walking inside a 100 yards of the campsite of ours! And such variety…different colors as well as textures and shapes & odors…I was dazzled by the display screen. I cannot recall the exact moment of the summer that we had been there, but we looked to catch the fungi growing season at its peak! Well, I was hooked and later that summer was provided a birthday gift of the National Audubon Society’s FIELD GUIDE TO MUSHROOMS by my lovely lady…and right now, I am never ever in the woods not having it.

But I digress…back to this past September and also the Housatonic Meadows…I was taking a short walk under the hemlocks, both alive and dead…huge trees. The floor of the woods was clear of dense brush as well as very open. The sun was filtering from the high boughs and also the forest was dappled in sun and shade. I saw several Slimy Gomphidius and a few of King Boletes…very best that you eat… as well as a couple of others…oh yes, including a tiny group of Yellow Fairy Cups…don’t laugh!!! they’re rather a standout! They’re realized in the Audubon book under Slimes, Jellies and Crustlike Fungi…I am not kidding!!! Anyhow, abruptly I see a mushroom that almost took the breath of mine away. I know, I know..that sounds a bit over the top, although it certainly was a sight…a snow white, healthy mushroom. The stalk was aproximatelly seven inches high as well as the best (cap) of the mushroom was near five inches across & nearly flat, making it appear even larger. It may be fanciful to convey the mushroom looked proud, though the term seems fitting and appropriate. The way it stood out from the dull surroundings…the murky leaves and twigs and small branches and hemlock needles..it was just spectacular!!

I had no clue what herb is best for menopause (https://www.thedailyworld.com/national-marketplace/best-mushroom-supplement-reviewing-top-mushroom-products/) it was then and hastily started to leaf with the book to test and find it. I found a few of likely hunting candidates in the book then began to check out the fungus much more closely, withouf disturbing it. Something I do know…I’d in no way encounter this fungus before. I noticed, quite easily, a cup-like shape that surround the base of the stalk which started to narrow the choices…a veil toward the top of the stalk…like a small membrane. the stalk itself was a little scaly and seemed to be….I guess fluffy is a good word It didn’t take longer and I soon decided I would found my first Amanita virosa…in English: THE DESTROYING ANGEL! A very apt name, because, according to the book, it is “deadly”. Symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea, and cramps…kidney and/or liver dysfunction follow and also, with no treatment, can result in death…I am quoting the book.

My three, quite young, grandchildren have been in the campground later that day and I took them on another “mushroom walk” and showed them the Amanita and drummed into the heads of theirs precisely how innocent-looking and beautiful stuff can easily be really, horrible for you. I, obviously, had them them clean carefully after returning from the walk…they had handled various other mushrooms which I believed were benign. But I want them to become used to taking precautions. I absolutely think they were amazed with the learning experience the walk provided. Days later they continue to commented on the experience…When they’re a bit older, I am going to relate to them that they’re descendants of John as well as William Bartram, the very first botanists in this particular country…but therein sits another story.

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• 12/11/2021
• un messaggio di: Amore
• Da: lawrenceheimbach