Central Pennsylvania Wild Mushroom Club

This winter I started doing something I have not previously done much of - walking in the woods.  After a brief period of acclimation, I find this an entirely enjoyable experience.  The winter woods is more open once the leaves are down.  And when snow blankets the ground, the tracks of the forest creatures have many stories to tell.  The bugs are gone and one can more easily dress to avoid becoming overheated.  But most of all, the solitude is fantastic.  When I am out tramping about on a winter weekday it is as if I own the woods, so rarely do I encounter another human this time of year.  I encourage everyone to give it a try.  But go prepared.  I take lots of GPS waypoints this time of year and always carry a daypack with enough survival equipment to endure a chilly night out, should this somehow become necessary.   

I have found a few mushrooms on my recent walks.  Mostly they are woody shelf fungus and other leftovers from last season.  I have found a couple of Orange Mock Oysters, some in surprisingly good condition.  Somebody had said at the January club meeting that they had recently found this mushroom.  I found one early in the year last spring and posted a photo in the blogs.  And I did find a LBM in the leaf duff a couple weeks ago that appeared quite fresh.  But my most interesting recent find occurred this past week on Valentines Day, February 14. 

I was exploring a new area not far from home.  The area tends to be rather steep but I had noticed on the topographic map a ravine that I figured might prove interesting.  When I reached the ravine I found it fairly deep, with steep sides.  And of course a small stream draining the hillside runs through it.  These places, with few hours of direct daily sunlight and a consistent source of moisture, are almost always places where mushrooms grow.  I immediately made a mental note to add this spot to my list of places to revisit once warmer weather arrives. 

While I was there, I did a little poking around.  And there in the steepest part of the ravine, I found a red cup fungs fruiting on a small piece of dead wood.  I laid it in a nearby patch of snow and snapped a few pictures.  When I finished, I started walking a little further up the hollow to look around.  I took about five steps and found two other specimens of the same mushroom, each also growing on small pieces of dead wood.  I gathered them up and returned to the snow patch to take the photo below.  As best I can tell, the mushroom is the Scarlet Cup Fungus, Sarcoscypha coccinea, or some close relative. 

I have found this mushroom previously, also early in the year.  But never this early.  David Arora describes it as a cold weather mushroom.  But I suspect he means coastal California cold, not central Pennsylvania in the middle of February cold.  Needless to say, I am quite impressed with the cold tolerance of this fungus.  And I consider it quite an appropriate Valentines Day find.  I was, coincidentally, mobbed by a flock of crows shortly after snapping the picture.  According to folk lore, this is a sure sign of upcoming good luck, or maybe a sign of impending doom.  I can't recall for certain so I choose to believe it's a sign of good luck.  Perhaps an omen of bountiful mushroom finds in the year ahead?  That's the way I'm taking it anyhow. 

If anyone has a better guess as to the mushroom identity, please feel free to opine. 

Dave