Boogers Identified

Day 152: Perhaps the most useful phrase in the world of science is this: "Looks like I was wrong." If you can't make yourself say it, you have no business calling yourself a scientist. I felt quite sure of my identification of this particular fungus when I found it growing on a tree in the Park that I posted it with the label "Ascotremella faginea," and that was even after I'd examined a sample under the microscope. A few days ago while hunting for something else entirely, I came across a reference to the nearly-identical Exidia candida. I made mental note of the distinction and a promise to myself that if I ever encountered another specimen of "boogers," I'd look at them with a different eye. During a walk on Tuesday in Nisqually State Park, I ventured down a little-used bunny-trail and almost immediately came to a booger-infested branch across the trail, the fungus identical to the specimen I'd found in the Park some years ago. At this stage in its development, the morphology (specifically the colour) indicated Exidia. Consequently (and because I'm only human, and like to bury my mistakes), I have gone back and edited all previous posts referring to the fungus. I may be guilty of being wrong, but I do not want to further the offense by leaving erroneous information where it might be accessed by inquiring minds. That said, Exidia is considered an "artificial" genus. No gene sequencing has been done, and its classification is based solely on morphologic characteristics. In other words, there's a lot of "wiggle room" here, plenty of space to use those telling words, "We were wrong."

Bud Blancher Boogers

Day 103: Several years back, I discovered a rather...um...snotty-looking fungus growing on a dead tree near the Community Building at Longmire. Observing it through the seasons, I noticed changes in its structure which eventually allowed me to identify it as Exidia candida, but my original designation was simply too appropriate to let slide, and the "Booger Tree" established itself in my lexicon. A couple of years ago, the Booger Tree sloughed its bark and the boogers disappeared. They have since re-established themselves, if not perhaps in their original abundance, but at least they've reappeared. That said, this image shows an entirely different nose-oyster. I found these along the Bud Blancher Trail in Eatonville, and I'm just thankful no one else was out walking this morning to hear me exult, "Boogers! I found a new Booger Tree!" We must take our little joys wherever we may find them, and the boogers made my day.

Boogers Alive!

Day 187: The Boogers are back! A couple of years back, I posted a similar picture, referring to it as the "Booger Tree." I was terribly dismayed when I checked on it last year and found that the bark hosting the growth had peeled off, leaving bare, boogerless wood. Even though I thought it was gone for good, I've kept checking on the tree every time I've walked over to the Longmire Community Building and today, I was rewarded with a new and luxuriant crop of Boogers. I am glad to see that apparently the mycelium was more than "skin deep," and survived by being rooted in the rotting wood underneath the shed bark. To the best of my limited skills in mycology, I have tentatively identified this fungus as Exidia candida; it turns dark brown with age and the individual fruits collapse in on itselves as they dry out. Fresh, they look for all the world like the Jolly Green Giant hawked a nose-oyster on the tree as he passed.

The Booger Tree

Day 153: I'll readily admit that I am a poor mycologist. It's taken me the better part of two years to identify the life form which gives the Booger Tree its name. When I first discovered it in the spring of 2015, it was as fresh and plump as you see it here, but by the end of summer, it had withered to a flaky crust, thin as paper and fragile to the touch. When the autumn rains arrived, it rejuvenated and I watched it go through the same cycle again through 2016. In the interim, I took a sample and put it under the microscope. It wasn't the most successful operation, but it did allow me to see the asci, and today, I finally found information confirming what I had observed through the 'scope. That said, this is one time I will dispense with scientific nomenclature in favour of a common term: the Booger Tree will remain the Booger Tree for as long as it and I are standing. (If you're really curious, the scientific name is in the labels.)