Favoritos de corndog

In rock crevice, growing on bare ultramafic soil, each mushroom actually attached to a small piece of rock embedded in the red clay. Pileus bright white, minutely fuzzy/scurfy, ruffled at the edge in maturity. Lamellae white, wavy, decurrent. Stipe white with slight basal tomentum.

Found by truffle dog Rye, fruiting gregariously along an ephemeral creek bed. Some were visible without any digging (see the bright truffle in the creek photo).

Aroma predominantly of banana/starchy tropical fruit, with undertones of Kalamata olive. Fruit bodies dense, with rainbow tones in both the gleba and peridium including orange/yellow, pink, and purple.

Surrounding trees included mountain hemlock and firs. Elevation ~5500’. Notably, these were found a couple days after the first rains of summer/early fall.

hosts encased in white, cottony sheaths of either fungal or insect (cocoon) origin. likely sp. nov. compare with Observation 231368

Host: scarabaeid beetle larvae (IDed by Dr. Nigel Hywel-Jones)

Habitat: riparian “Tucumano-Boliviano” alder forest (Alnus acuminatus)

Ecoregion: Bolivian Yungas (NT0105)

Collectors: D. Newman, P. Kaishian, D. Ettlinger, I. Cuba Pinto, T. Padilla Albis, A.I. Echeverría Rojas, M.Á. Centellas Levy, N. Gonzales San Miguel, P.A. Angulo Salazar, S. Ochoa Bustillos & A. Sandoval

Collection #: SEHU021

Collected during the 2nd Expedición Micológica de la Sociedad Micológica de Bolivia, with support from Eduardo Morales and the Herbario Criptogámico of Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo (UCBSP).

As a waxcap enthusiast, these were one of the most interesting collections I've ever made. Growing in white sand between forest edge and road. Poorly formed gills, mostly ridges and smooth hymenium on young specimens. Flat pileus. Large fruiting, (especially since most Hygrocybe spp. encounters involved only a single fruit) over 20 mushrooms, very small stature. Location approximate.

Second and third photo show specimen that was found in situ. I brought the specimens home and put them in a small container with a damp paper towel and a week later they formed fruit bodies as shown the rest of the photos

On a downed White Oak (Quercus garryana) at Denman Wildlife Area.
2nd photo shows UV reaction.
Same log as https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/146928673 & https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/147080796.

Fischerula subcaulis

Mild, unremarkable truffle-y aroma. Multiple specimens found in one general area by truffle dog Rye. Primarily Douglas-fir. Truffles very firm, some with obvious recessed stipe-columella and others more subtle.

This observation is for the clusters of spikes on top of the mushroom in https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/97729121. @harsiparker and @ranmofod suggested that I look more closely at the spikes because they could be entomopathogenic fungi. I cut off a chunk of material around one cluster, and I realized that it was actually growing out of a decayed piece of wood that was lying across the top of the mushroom. There was a white spore-like powder under the spikes (3rd photo). Then I scraped the wood away from the spikes on one side. They were growing out of what looked like an insect pupa in a tunnel. I also noticed other tunnels full of sawdust within the wood (7th photo).

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/98231684 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/98232161 show arthropods that were on the large mushroom.

Originally I had no idea what this was. I thought it was a cordyceps as it has erupted from the body of a katydid or grasshopper. Someone has suggested pin mold, another has suggested slime mold.
Found positioned on a decaying log in subtropical rainforest next to a creek. We have recently had lots of rain and high humidity.

Via a cordyceps identification page on Facebook, Nigel Hywel-Jones commented "It is indeed spectacular, and rare. In 35+ years and over 20,000 collections in 12 countries I have found it once. On an adult moth. That is how rare it is. It is in the genus Sporodiniella and is a Zygomycete. It looks similar to Sporodiniella umbellata."

So I have now listed it as such.

Likely growing on a hemlock. Possibly s. fimbriata or s. contortipes based on Instagram conversation with Connor Dooley. Potentially quite rare parasitic species on the brown mushrooms in the photo. Any help is welcomed!

Cap slimy, 1-2cm broad; stype yellow and slimy; gills decurrent. Gloioxanthomyces vitellina appears to be the current name, but most sources still list it as Hygrocybe vitellina at present.

Arctos record:
http://arctos.database.museum/guid/KNWR:Herb:10380