Lobsters In The Woods

Day 7: A prime candidate for Crow's Catalog of Freaky Fungi, "lobster mushrooms" are not a single organism, but a parasitic fungus (Hypomyces lactifluorum) which grows on another mushroom, generally those in the Russula and Lactarius genera. In the Pacific Northwest, H. lactifluorum most commonly occurs on R. brevipes. When R. brevipes appears without being infected with H. lactifluorum, it is white and can be rather large. Often, observers will find specimens which are only partly "lobsterized," the gills more or less intact and the cap showing blotches of white. Sometimes the colonization occurs before the host mushroom has emerged from the ground. Due to the fact that the host can be one of several species, the taste of Lobsters is inconsistent.