LOOKS LIKE RAIN
AMANITA VIRESCENSWednesday, 7:30 AM. 64 degrees, humidity 60%. Wind SW, light. The sky is overcast, it has rained lightly and the barometer predicts rain. There is a trace of rain in the gage.
The innocent looking mushroom is a young Amanita virescens, the “destroying angel.” Note the bulbous cup, called a vulva, at the base of the stem. When first emergent the entire mushroom is covered by a thin veil which breaks apart as the stem elongates. A remnant ring of this veil often adheres to the stem just below the cap, another identifying characteristic. This young specimen is small; but they can become quite large. Amanitas of many kinds are native to our woods and woods edges, many are deadly poisonous and none should be eaten. I do not eat wild collected mushrooms.
Tomorrow we head for UW Stevens Point to attend a quarterly Urban Forestry Council meeting.
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