We found these blobs with goo-filled craters on the forest floor in an area comprising mainly hemlocks and pines on an island in the Connecticut River. What are they?
Answer
These are the young fruiting bodies of Hydnellum peckii, also called bleeding tooth fungus or devil’s tooth fungus. As explained in this post from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, “The adult mushroom is beige and rather dull in appearance. When young and actively growing, however, this whitish mushroom appears to bleed from its pores, inspiring some of its colorful names. ...This gooey red liquid is actually a sap of sorts caused by a process called guttation.” To learn more about this species, check out this page from the University at Buffalo.
This week’s contest winner was Andrew Warman