October is here and there is a slight feeling of panic, thinking about all that needs to get done before the snow arrives. On the top of that list is hunting for more mushrooms, because once the snow is here, I'll have to wait until next year before I find anymore.
I'm not the only one thinking that! The squirrels have been picking mushrooms and putting them in trees to dry, to save for winter eating.
On the top of my mushroom hunting list have been dermocybes, a group of mushrooms in the Cortinarius genus that are very colourful and good dyers. I have been finding a lot of red gilled ones, but lately have found a few with electric orange gills- possibly Cortinarius aurantiobasis.
From the top, they look so boring...
But once you flip them over, their colour is revealed!
Red, yellow, and orange gills. Stunning colours!
I put a small piece of the cap from one of the orange dermocybes into some hot water to see what kind of colour it might yield. Very promising!
Mushrooms are just so exciting!
