Central Pennsylvania Mushroom Club

First, many thanks to Aaron, Bill, and the other experts who attend the club meetings.  The information provided by these folks adds tremendously to the value of the club.  Thanks to all of you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us.  It is worth mentioning that even these experts may see mushrooms at any given meeting or on any given day that they do not recognize.  As Aaron noted, that is part of both the challenge and the excitement of the field of mycology. 

Pictured below is a recent find discussed at the June meeting.  It is common in this area and frequently confused for a fungus due to it's white coloration.  It is however a flowering plant, Monotropa uniflora, locally known as Indian pipes, ghost plant, or corpse plant.  It is white due to a lack of chlorophyll and indeed has a ghostly appearance in the shaded forest.  Lacking chlorophyll, the plant can not synthesize it's food as most plants do using the energy of sunlight.  It is instead a parasite, relying on mycorrhizal fungi (mushrooms) to provide it food from the roots of certain trees.  This specimen exhibited some fine, fuzzy mycelium between the individual plants but this does not show well in the photo.  Since it does not need sunlight to grow, this plant is often found in shaded locations where mushrooms might also be found. 

Dave