Bengi Kendrick
@fungiwithbengi
I love fungi North of Kenomee, Nova Scotia, Mi'kma'ki benkendrick on iNat
'Tis the season. Missed out on last chanterelle season due to the fires, so this is a sight for sore eyes.
Amanita flavoconia - Yellow Patches Must have been 7-8 species I walked by today, there was no shortage of Amanitas out.
A map of Bengi's ideal habitat conditions and the fault line that created it. That dotted line is where the waterfalls are.
Lanky Moss - Rhytidiadelphus loreus I had originally suspected R. subpinnatus because it wasn't in the usual rocky habitats that R. loreus tends to pop up around here, but the stem leaves ended up being plicate, ruling out both R. subpinnatus and squarrosus.
A bit more of a closeup. It wouldn't be the same purple ones I was seeing in the other photos due to colour and being found in April, but is still an aquatic accumulation of springtails.
Around 6 years ago today (actually on the 20th) I noticed large accumulations of purple springtails leaping into the rivers and accumulating like foam. Something to keep an eye out for if you're out and about this week.
Scaly Oysterling - Crepidotus calolepis New to me Similar to C. crocophyllum if the gill colour ends up being a bit weird, but they can be distinguished by that one having globose spores as opposed to the ellipsoidal spores of C. calolepis.
Found an interesting host-insect interaction yesterday. As of 2020, according to C. Eiseman there are no confirmed insects known to leaf mine cat tail leaves. I'm not the entomologist who will prove who's doing it, but I am a set of eyes who knows it's happening. But by whom?
Phocidaephobia. The fear that somewhere, somehow, a seal is watching you.
I like checking up on this tree. I don't think it has many years left, so I like to see the claimed 'Nova Scotia's oldest maple' while it's still vertical. The real age isn't known due to hollowing, but it's been known to be a noteworthily old tree since the 1800s so the estimate is just "over 300"
Sometimes not going to a place for a while is nice. The singular, scraggly wild cedar tree along one of the trails I walk was noticeably bigger than I remember it being. If I went there too often I might not have seen the difference. I've never had to look up while checking it for leafminers before.
WWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rusty Woodsia - Woodsia ilvensis Distinguished my the hairs/scales on the undersides. This one's a good example of the "S4 Apparently secure" designation in NS. It's never common, but it is around doing just fine on certain cliffy habitats.
My current excuse to go back to my second favourite waterfall is to investigate this jellyskin further. It's unusual for them to grow on the ground like this. I need to see it when dry to see some minute details a little clearer to be 100% sure which one is growing where it usually doesn't.
I'm a little big magnetic to spots like this. So many little secretive crevices for me to poke my head in.
I'm pretty sure this is Amanita sinicoflava. DNA test will correct me if need be. I don't think the previous reports I see in the province were tested. The cap colour, greying of the volva, lack of annulus and growth under conifer are the main features I'm going by.
Pylaie's Soft Rush - Juncus pylaei New to me This is one of those species that is easily forgotten about because it was once considered a subspecies of another species (J. effusus), and isnt anymore. People tend to not go to subspecies specificity. This one has deeper and fewer grooves on the stalk
Moon-leaved Pincerwort - Fuscocephaloziopsis lunulifolia New to me "tiny bilobed liverworts" is a group I tend to avoid to avoid, but the thickened cell wall at the lobe apex here fortunately saves me having to measure cells.
And now for the scienceposting. Here we see a prominent split costa, enlarged hyaline cells on the outside of the stem (hyalodermis), and its overall leaf shape.
Hygrohypnum ochracea This pic turned out fairly artsy fartsy which I wasn't planning for. The stream passing over it made it look like it was frozen in ice, but it was about 25c when I took the photo
Alleniella complanata - Flat Neckera I have a hunch here. I don't think the thing North Americans call this is actually the same thing Europeans call this name. It just wouldn't be widely common in Europe and range restricted in NA unless it were introduced. But it's not in disturbed areas here.
Brideliella wahlenbergii is sometimes grouped into the Oncophorus genus. Differentiated by its smaller, less toothy, more abruptly narrowing auriculate leaf bases, growing on sticks in rivers. I think there is a capsule difference too but I can't quite put my finger on it.
Oncophorus virens - Green Spur Moss New to me I had initially suspected this was Brideliella wahlenbergii growing in an atypically rocky habitat, but they become more and more distinct from one another the more you dig in. Partially wet rocks are such a honeyhole of biodiversity.
Yeah that stuff... What's all this? Reminds me of the angular patterns that happen when I put salty chemicals on my microscope slide and let it dry out.