What in the Woods Is That?

Play our biweekly guessing game!

Whatever draws us into the forest—be it birdwatching or logging, hiking or hunting—all of us are unified by the sense of wonder we feel in the outdoors. The forests, fields, and streams of our region are full of mystery, and if you stop and look closely, you’ll see all sorts of oddities.

Below find a picture of one such woodlands curio. Guess what it is and you’ll be eligible to win a Northern Woodlands woodpecker magnet designed by artist Liz Wahid. A prize winner will be drawn at random from all the correct entries. The correct answer, and the winner’s name, will appear when the next column is posted and in our newsletter (sign up here!).

It’s a Star, It’s a Flower, It’s a…What?

Reader Kirk Gentalen shared this photo, snapped in the woods of Mid-Coast Maine after a rainy day in early fall. What is this?

Answer

This is a hare’s foot inky cap mushroom (Coprinopsis lagopus) near the end of its deliquescence – a process in which the mushroom self-destructs by producing enzymes that liquify its cap and gills, which results in the release of spores. “Inky caps are famous for deliquescing,” said Kirk. “What you are seeing in the photo is the space between the gills, because the gills are gone/have liquified.” For more information about this mushroom, check out this write up on MushroomExpert.com by Michael Kuo or this United Kingdom-based Mushroom Diary.

This week’s contest winner was John DeWitt