The name northern tooth, Climacodon septentrionalis, a common trunk decay fungus of urban maples, is a misnomer. The decay fungus is actually widely distributed in North America east of the Rockies and is found as far south as the Gulf [...]

Armillaria mellea, this one growing on a maple in the month of September, is an autumn-fruiting mushroom. Mushrooms that appear in the spring or summer are almost always not A. mellea. All images courtesy of the author. Just like the [...]

Photo 1, at right: A cluster of Jack O’ Lantern mushrooms at the base of an otherwise healthy white oak. The fungus appears in late summer through the fall. Unless otherwise noted, photos courtesy of the author. Several mushroom species [...]

Photo 1: In order for sexual reproduction to occur in the Basidomycota decay fungi, a tree must be infected twice by basidiospores. Sexual reproduction results in the formation of conks, mushrooms or brackets that produce spores for further dispersal and [...]