[fungusfilter] another unidentified fungus, this one with shiny translucent beads

December 30, 2010 11:03 AM

Any idea what this fungus is? Found in northwestern PA.
posted by buttercup to Science & Nature (12 answers total)

Huh. No chance those are water droplets, right?
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 11:18 AM on December 30, 2010

What is the white thing the beads are on?
posted by iconomy at 11:19 AM on December 30, 2010

I believe that's the question, iconomy.
posted by contraption at 11:34 AM on December 30, 2010

Oh, thanks, I thought the beads were the fungus. A little more info would be helpful though, like, where this was seen. Besides PA, I mean ;)
posted by iconomy at 11:37 AM on December 30, 2010

The giant puffball Calvatia gigantea?
posted by Nomyte at 12:04 PM on December 30, 2010

I really can't tell what you're asking about. If it's the spheres then I don't think that's a fungus. If it's the white lumpy mass in the background, you need to show us more.
posted by Toekneesan at 1:09 PM on December 30, 2010

The picture is too close to see the actual fungi. The droplets are probably exudates containing enzymes.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:30 PM on December 30, 2010

It looks like the fringe or underside of some sort of bracket fungus. These are usually lined with droplets on their undersides. A better photograph would help.
posted by klanawa at 10:00 PM on December 30, 2010

As an amateur mycologist, I can positively identify that as a close-up picture of something white, possibly fuzzy in texture.

HTH.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:49 AM on December 31, 2010

Heh. It kind of freaks me out. It looks like a mutant q-tip with eyes.

Why no follow up at all, buttercup?
posted by iconomy at 3:52 PM on December 31, 2010

Response by poster: Sorry, I've been offline for the past two days. This is the only photograph I have of the particular fungus. It was taken in Erie County, PA in a swamp. Its not the underside of a bracket fungus, nor a puffball. This was kind a small fungus on the ground, with the 'droplets' on top.
posted by buttercup at 9:28 AM on January 1, 2011

Again, there's no freaking way it can be identified from this blurry, incomplete picture, without a lot of backup data (location, substrate, size, smell, taste - yes, that's a field ID clue, possibly spore print).

I happen to live south of Erie, and have a pretty decent idea of the local fungi, but still - you're asking the equivalent of "name that song after one note."
posted by IAmBroom at 11:47 AM on January 4, 2011