NC, Smokies, 20060611
Cataloochee, Asbury, many flowers and fungi.

These are all from Cataloochee unless otherwise stated. (Asbury trail.)

Flowers

Carex plantaginea

Several along river, and several on dead log past first creek just before heading back uphill; two infl stalks left from last year. Distinctive leaves.
GEN cesp herb , sts erect
LF broad amd quilted, large basal tuft w few or v reduced caul
INFL 2+ erect spklts, one pist fl in lower spklt
scale 2.8mm, acute to acum, 1 vein, wide scar marg near base, smooth
stam spklts are purplish
PERIG 3.2mm, hairy, not inflated, many sl raised veins, d puber, 3-angled, ellip
FR 2.4mm, 3-angled, style jointed, smooth, tan, v sl obov mostly ellip, beak v short, no st
RA&B claims pistillate bracts have tubular sheath, but I find that all have split if they were ever sheathing at all. Damn, they mean the leaf below the spklt, not the bract below the fl it does indeed have a 5mm sheath.

Houstonia purpurea

Still in full fl in woods, too. I've noticed that sunny ones are bluish, while the ones in woods are pure white.

Oxalis montana []

On Asbury near river, starting in dog hobble; in full fl.
LF pil
PET 5, free, white w striking pink veins and yell dot at base w pinkish collar ab a white outline of yell, tip crisped, spread 60-70deg

Rhododendron calendulaceum

Still in full fl; several scattered widely on ridge along Asbury.

Mushrooms

Marasmius "small white"

On tiny hemlock twig low on Asbury.

Marasmius "orange"

On rotting hardwood log mid elev Asbury (luge run).

Cortinarius subargentatus

At half-way mark on Tigger's Trot; in soil in rhododendron thicket; still a mere button, universal veil just breaking.

Agrocybe praecox? []

On exposed hemlock roots of (probably dead) fallen tree, just before first creek.
GEN med mushroom, on roots of dead hemlock
ST white, dry, fibrous and though but brittle and snapping, twisty, 100x5-10mm, brown and hollow inside, v prom memb wide skirt near top w ragged edge, cap-colored but d covered w rich brown spores, skirt ~10mm wide, st widening at base, white cottony foot (underground)
CAP 50mm wide, flat to v sl umbo, skin prom cracked radially esp near edge exposing lt creamy flesh, skin creamy-buff to tan in center, dry and smooth
FLESH 5mm, lt creamy, soft but not brittle
GILL notched, dirty lt brown, alternating wide and shallow, more than 1 per mm, somewhat ragged edges
SPORE print rich chocolate brown, lt brown, smooth, ellip-ov, 1-cell, sticking in towering irreg masses, 7.5-7.7x5-5.2um, nice and clean and sharp under 400x
Matches well enough, but too vague to be decisive.

Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa poroides

On dead hardwood; going down into second creek as you enter dense undergrowth. Tiny mounded white reticulate or netted masses. Looks really cool up close, but I haven't a clue what it is. (See C. f. from 20060613 I think this is the other "form" of it.)

Fomitopsis pinicola []

Several on a standing big dead hemlock in flood plain of first creek.
GEN hoof fungus, on dead standing hemlock
CAP huge, thick, surface dirty brown, smooth, zoned and terraced, dry
FLESH golden tan, layered, corky, KOH+ black
PORE creamy white, 2-7mm thick (depending on year), 4 per mm, pinpricks in pillowy soft-looking continuous surface (hard to see)
SPORE print invisible
Not so much a red belt, but I'm running out of other options.

Fuligo septica?

On dead hardwood; going down into second creek on little re-route, and another at top of ridge separating the two creeks. Ochre spongy mass.

Ganoderma tsugae

Several, going down into final creek.
GEN stalked shelf fungus, on dead hemlock
CAP huge, uneven but smooth surface, dry and v shiny when young becoming dull in age, white marg and orange to rust-red ctr when young, solid dull rusty brown all over when old
FLESH 1-few cm thick, creamy white to brownish, soft, K-
PORE brownish white, bruising brown, to 1mm thick, 6 per mm, holes as wide as walls, pores round, min granular or puber
SPORE print invisible
Many of these are being devoured hungrily by milkweed beetles striking nasty creatures that are jet black w orange-red mottling spots.

Hohenbuehelia angustatus?

On dead hardwood; heading back uphill after first creek.
GEN small-med vase-mushroom, on dead hardwood log
ST none or just an extension of cap
CAP 40x40mm or so, vase-shaped ears, marg wavy, smooth, lt cream to watery tawny, lt creamy velvet here and there esp at base wearing off easily
FLESH thin and v flexible but tough, < 1mm, creamy white
GILL long decur to v base, v close (4-5 per mm), unbr, creamy to tawny at base, < 1mm wide
SPORE print white in a pool of water, round, smooth, colorless, 1 cell, ~3um
Keys to H. petaloides group and maybe Pleurotis porrigens in Arora, where due to pinkish buff color I'm placing it in H. a.. Neither described species has tiny spores like I see, but Arora does mention that H. a. has round spores, at least.

$Beautiful one, side view. Note \$

Hygrocybe chlorophana

Nice specimen on bench above river floodplain.

Hygrocybe miniata-like

In middle of trail on soil on dry slope heading out of first creek.
GEN tiny mushroom, clumped in soil
ST 30x1-2mm, tapering gently to top, bright orange ab to yell to almost white at base, white cotton at base, solid, yellish inside, flexible but not breaking easily, v fibrous
CAP 6mm, bell-convex, bright orange, yell fuzzy fibers covering it
FLESH yell inside to orange outside, < 1mm thick
GILL notch, yell, 1 per mm or more but relatively v distant and few
SPORE print white, ellip, smooth, colorless, tiny knob one one end, 9.5-10.5x5.5-6.5um, sticking into irreg small clumps, v sharp and clear at 400x
Too many similar species insufficiently described to make a proper identification, although H. subminiata sounds promising.

$Close-up of tips of perithecia, at 30x. They are the black dots with the red arrows pointing to them. Note the black \$

Podostroma alutaceum?

On dead hardwood; heading back uphill after first creek.
GEN finger fungus, on dead hardwood
CAP greyish white finger, to 50x3mm, somewhat lumpy, round x-sect, rounded tip, curving to erect, sl narrower near base but base itself swollen and smooth, finely cracked and finely tom, v rubbery tough, will not break no matter what, black at base (probably from rough handling), sev sl raised black spots (perithecia) esp lower down
FLESH smooth white w thin black layer under surface
SPORE print invisible
No matter how I key it I end up here. Looking very closely esp toward the base I finally found the perithecia, although the one I sectioned must be young because I can't see any spores inside the orange stocky angular asci.

white knob fungus

On dead hardwood; descending into second creek in "hanging valley".
GEN knobby finger fungus, on dead hardwood
CAP irreg knobby white thing, this one ~10x6mm, d min white puber
FLESH tough, white, aging sl yellish
PORE 5-6 per mm and v shallow (not sure what I'm seeing are really pores)
SPORE print white?, ellip, colorless, smooth?, ~5.5x4um, gathering in tapole-egg like masses
I think this is a very young polypore of some sort.

Polyporus arcularius?

On small dead oak limb mid elev Asbury.
GEN shelf fungus, on dead hardwood
CAP 15x25mm, sl concave, thin, tough but somewhat flexible, tawny and smooth in ctr to orange-tawny zoned shaggy marg, marg 1-2mm wide and rather sharp, one pt of lat att
FLESH clean creamy white, to 2mm thick, tough, K+ yell
PORE golden tawny, dker near marg, thin walled and angular, 2 per mm, 0.7mm thick
SPORE print invisible
Seems to match but for stubby lateral stalk.

Psathyrella delineata

Just before river; in soil immediately beneath a dead hardwood? limb.
GEN large mushroom, under rotting hardwood? limb
ST 80x10mm, hollow, whitish to brown-cast, brittle, splitting v easily, snapping when bent, fibrous, v fine white fuzz at sl thickened base
CAP 75mm wide, convex, various shades of yellish and reddish browns, redder toward center, lter and somewhat patterned near marg, some tufts of fibers here and there pretty easily removed, cuticle cellular
FLESH brittle, 2-3mm thick, brownish aging v brown
GILL shall notched, less than 1 per mm, alternating wide and narr, dirty med-dk brown
SPORE print dk umber, med brown, ellip-ov, 1 cell smooth, v sharp and clean at 400x, weakly attracted into packed rafts, walls visible (~0.5um thick), 5.3-6.7x5-5.2um
Not covered in Arora, but he does suggest the genus fairly clearly, and from there a quick perusal of the genus in Lincoff turns up P. rugocephala and P. delineata. Both match morphologically, but the former has incorrect spores; the latter has smaller smooth spores, which could well match mine. The photo (for the former) is a dead ringer.