A little more fungus

A day or so after it rains, this orange rubbery fungus emerges from a log back in my woodpile. It's happened every time it's rained this summer.

It's interesting to me because it keeps appearing over and over. I think I remember seeing this last year too, but I can't be certain. How long can a fungus like this stay alive in a log? Years?

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It's really beautiful stuff though. I like the way you can see it emerging from the cracks in the wood:

The tiny orange bumps are my favorite part. Is it a slime mold, and not a fungus? I'm not sure.

There are a few other types of fungus back on the woodpile too. This is growing on a small lump of wood that has been on the ground for a while, right at the edge of one of my bamboo plantings:

I'm not even going to attempt to identify the species.

It's a great texture though -- as are all of the fungii in this post.

What attracts me to this type of fungus and compels me to take so many photos is the amount of detail and visual variety that these patches provide.

Here's the third type of fungus, growing on a different log:

For some of these shots I just held the camera below the fungus and pointed blindly upward. It's an interesting perspective, and kind of fun too -- you never know what kind of shot you'll get until you see the results.

I think this shot is my favorite, as it reminds me of canyon walls:

I may not immediately know the results of each of these "blind" photos, but I do know the results of this morning of photographing the woodpile fungii: a deep sense of satisfaction and discovery.

Also a realization that I I've got a lot of half-rotten firewood back here.