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Picture of the day -
January 19, 2006
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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