Fungi Friday - Arizona Mushrooms

Here are a few Arizona mushrooms for this #fungifriday by @ewkaw

Look at this gorgeous beauty. This is a cauliflower mushroom found in the Chiricahua National Forest high up in the mountains. They have to grow high up in the mountain to avoid the Arizona heat. I believe this cauliflower mushroom is Sparassis radicata a nice edible. These work well in many dishes, but to taste them I recommend just a simple soup broth with only these mushrooms in them.

Here is a morel as well found high up in the mountains under some pine trees. Down in the plains of Arizona it is way too dry and hot for any mushrooms to grow. Fortunately the high mountains get more moisture and cooler temperatures for many fungi to grow.

The mountains are also full of weird lichens with many colors and shapes.

My fiance's mother likes to collect them and put them in terrariums to mist and grow them.

Here is a strange large polypore. It kind of resembles chicken of the woods at first glance but it has a fuzzy texture all over the top. Maybe it is a giant polypore...

Now for a random geode that was found. Quite a few minerals and geodes can be found while hiking in Arizona. Mineral hunting is almost as fun as fungi hunting but way less tasty lol.

Happy #fungifriday :-)