Wild Mushrooms

Photo courtesy of Mr. Ralph O. Clements, L.S.
There are many beautiful things to see for those who enjoy taking a walk in the woods. There are trees of various species, numerous wildflowers, and of course a plethora of wild animals, but there are also things that you stumble up on when you are least expecting them - like the wild mushrooms in today's picture.

As a youngster, I spent many hours traipsing around in the woods near our home in Widener Valley, Va. I loved hunting ginseng back then, and I guess I must have walked up and down just about every "holler" in the valley as well as most of them around the small town of Damascus, Va looking for it. I saw plenty of mushrooms in those days, but they were always unexpected. Since mushrooms are fungi rather than plants, they won't grow just anywhere - only where it is moist and there is decaying wood matter to feed off of.

There are roughly 10,000 varieties of wild mushrooms growing in the forests of North America, and a number of them are poisonous - even lethal. Many people gather wild mushrooms for food, but unless you know how to identify the safe ones with 100% accuracy, doing so is a very dangerous thing! Most mushroom lovers are better off buying them rather than "hunting" them.

Today's picture was taken by Mr. Ralph Clements while surveying a wooded area of Montgomery County, Va near the town of Christiansburg. I'm always amazed at the beauty to be found out in the woods if you just know where to look...even under a fallen tree!

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