Day 27: The Schizophyllum Adventure kept me up well past bedtime last night because I was determined to solve the mystery of this fungus' identity. A friend had piqued my curiosity when she sent me photos taken during a walk on the network of trails within her acreage, photos which showed only enough detail to convince me that it was something I had never before seen. Nothing baits me as well as the unusual and mushrooms tend to be rather ephemeral (especially when the weather is rainy), so in the interests of science, I arranged to go exploring with my friend as guide.
Upon arrival at the site, we discovered multiple specimens growing along a 15' length of downed alder. The fungus was most definitely something I'd never observed, so true to form and with my eye fixed on the goal, I went straight through the nettles to get a closer look. I took photos from several different angles, and made a close visual examination, but fearing that I might miss some important detail, I took a sample in the end and tucked it safely away in a petri dish in my pocket. That moment of foresight made it possible for me to make a positive identification: Schizophyllum commune, Split-gill Fungus.
The common name tells the story. Under 10x magnification, the odd structure of this fungus' gills becomes apparent. They are truly schizoid, i.e., split into two parts longitudinally as you can see in the bottom photos. The fungus forms brackets (shelves) similar to those in the generic classification of "Oyster Mushrooms," but are exceptionally "hairy," the feature which drew my friend's attention initially.
As luck would have it, we encountered a second immature colony much closer to her house which will allow her to monitor their further development.
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