Fungi Friday 🍄

Salzkammergut, Austria, May 2024

It may not look like much, and probably is an excuse to share this incredible scenery, but here is an interesting fungus.

Green elfcup is mostly seen as this green blush on pieces of soft, broken wood. If you’re lucky, you’ll see small green-blue fruiting cups in the autumn.

The green is caused by the mycelium ‘infecting’ the surface of the wood. Apparently this was used in Italian Renaissance art.

This article covers the topic very well.

My walks in Austria’s Salzkammergut region, west of Salzburg, have thrown up many wildflowers but such is the time of year, not much fungi.

There are mushrooms in shop windows on sale as ornaments, while oysters and chanterelles on menus in restaurants, but nothing much in the woods we’ve descended through.

Thanks for reading.