The Colorful and Interesting Fungi Found Here

Insect life isn’t the only diverse ecological realm at Cactus Island; mycological organisms in their bright colors and curious forms also shine within our slice of natural ecology.  I’m not really a ‘shroom guy, but what grabs me, grabs me……especially so when it could end up in a drawing or painting.  This tells us that our sandy soil ecology is healthy and that there is a vast network of underground mycelia living in symbiosis with plant and tree roots. When it rains it becomes evident in the fruiting bodies that quickly emerge, last for a few days and disappear as quickly as they appeared.  Several times, while remodeling the house, the smell of death assaulting my nose had me worried that something might be dead under the house.  On sight of some strange bright red and orange forms in the mulch I smiled when I realized that the fly-attractant smell came from these fruiting fungi.  Around pine trees, the 5-6 inch gator skin earth balls I found in November were a first for us.  A number of the russula fungi are going into one of my next paintings, with an imaginative twist.