This is one of the most common honey mushrooms. It usually grows in clusters, mostly on conifers but also on broadleaved trees and shrubs. The caps are brown, and usually covered with dark scales. A well defined brownish ring can be present, as well as stems leading into either pointed bases or enlarged bases.

Starts off with reddish brown caps and fades to pale brownish or cream colored with age. It is very fleshy and fibrous. The caps can be irregularly shaped, almost “wrinkled” looking. The caps can also “split” with tiny cracks. It appears in summer and can appear in a variety of urban and suburban areas in addition. This mushroom also has whitish-brown, pale stems that can often have a twisted appearance.

This mushroom is thin-fleshed, often found in mixed woods in litter. They can occur in clusters or as a few near other fungi. These can be found late spring to early summer, and continue through fall. The gills are crowded, very narrow, and pale to whitish. The caps start off reddish, brown, but can fade to more pale colors. The stem is long, narrow and enlarged at the base and often covered in fine hairs.

This mushroom grows in clusters and clumps in conifer wood chips and bark mulch (alder wood) and in soils rich in woody debris. The color is dark chestnut brown while lighter towards the center and can be olive-green at times, fading to a pale yellowish brown or pale yellow. The shape expands to convex, or flattens with age, as the stem enlarges at the base.

found this english laurel (prunus laurocerasus) along a hidden path near the creek, next to an enormous stump of a tree. It was hidden but I was able to identify it this dense shrub by the long, thin, and shiny leaves. The leaves are alternating and it also appears to be flowering into clusters of tiny yellowish-white flowers. The twigs are bright green and smooth. I found this in the shade and I also found out that this species is an invasive species, and was thus introduced. It can kill off other native species due to it being shade and drought tolerant, and with this, introduces competition between species as this plant overtakes area and nutrients from others that are not as tolerant. It also appears that this species have been preyed on by caterpillars of some sort as there are “cut” marks of the insect feeding on the leaves, indicating an ecological disturbance.

I found common storksbill (erodium cicutarium) blooming into small 5-petaled pinkish lilac-colored flowers. The camera I was using didn’t pick up the color quite as well as I had hoped, but in real life the petals had a beautiful purplish hue. The leaves are pinnately compound.

I happened to notice a patch of blooming western buttercups (ranunculus accidentalis). The glossy petals reflected the sunlight beautifully. There were many of these flowers spread out on the hillside beside the pathway.

I happened to notice a patch of blooming western buttercups (ranunculus accidentalis). The glossy petals reflected the sunlight beautifully. There were many of these flowers spread out on the hillside beside the pathway.