Northern nature: Coral fungi start the mushroom season

We tend to think that July is mainly weather. This summer is not only the hottest month in the north, but also the time of thunderstorm, and it often has strong winds and heavy rain.

But in nature, July is also the time for many other events to happen. Bird songs that prevailed throughout June are now basically silent. Birds who use vocal music to declare their territory now do not need to do so. In this summer's songbird nest, eggs hatch into nestlings, feeding in large quantities, and nestlings coming out of their nests.

In July, no song of territorial ownership was needed. But birds are still with us, not songs. They feed and travel in families in the summer woods.

In our garden and garden, we see all kinds of butterflies and dragonflies. Other insects, such as grasshoppers and crickets, continue to grow like spiders. As we enter midsummer, more and more spiders appear.

After the flowers and flowers in May, we saw many berries in July. When I was walking, I often found several ripening berries on the edge of the forest. There's a little strawberry on the ground. Honeysuckle shrubs have twigs of berries and red.

But in the early July, the biggest and most obvious berries were red and red. All these are found through feeding birds and small mammals, and they will not last for a long time.

Walking into the woods, I took a walk under the leafy shade of trees. Not many flowers, but a thick green Pteridophyte on the forest floor. As I walked, I looked at the fallen logs and trunks, and I saw that the fungus season had already begun.

When we continue to experience warm and humid summer, we will see lots of mushrooms and other fungi. Now, due to the rainfall and temperature in the past few weeks, we have noticed the beginning of these strange growth.

Typical mushrooms are umbrella shaped and can be of various colors.  Although these shapes are the most common, fungi are very diverse, and now in the woods some look, I find a common fungus that grows more like small trees or shrubs.

Coral fungi, which are somewhat similar to marine coral, are part of our forest in July and are almost always one of the first fungi found here.  They are about 3 or 4 inches tall, and I find that they are mostly on sunken and rotten logs. Some look like clubs without branches, just on the ground.

Most of them are tan, gray or brown, but I find that some are yellow, gold or even purple. Like a small tree, the main stem is supported on woody substrates, forming many branches extending in all directions.

Following them to the top, we can see that the tiny projection here looks like a miniature crown. At this terminal point, the spores are spores similar to mushrooms.

Although coral fungi do not look like mushrooms, they are related to them. We will see more mushrooms and other fungi, as we have experienced summer and autumn, but now start with coral fungi in early July.

The retired teacher Larry Weber is the author of several books, including "the butterfly of North Woods", "the spider of North Woods", "Webwood" and "in a yellow flower".

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