The lifeforms captivated me, their range of colors and forms seemingly limitless. Hues of yellow and red, and shapes of spongy disks, spiked domes, Easter eggs, and even papery stars all fed my imagination. I couldn't have visualized a more psychedelic palette if I were snorkeling on a pristine coral reef off of Maui or buying confections in a Parisian bakery. But I wasn't on an exotic vacation; I was in Prescott, hiking the forest trails surrounding my cabin and peering from the deck into my yard. And instead of sea life or candy, mushrooms filled my vision, bursting into life as a result of several weeks of monsoon rain.
The animal kingdom is my favorite subject to photograph, especially the birds that call Arizona home for at least part of the year. The plant kingdom is another popular subject, especially when cactus flowers bloom in the desert and when wildflower season erupts around Prescott after summer rains. This season is shaping up to be a magnificent one as the hillsides quickly turn green and black-eyed Susans start to bloom. But throughout this garden paradise, the fungus kingdom is finding its own ideal conditions to make an appearance, reminding me that life is a heck of a lot more diverse than just plants and animals.
While the fungus kingdom includes less photogenic subjects like yeast and molds, it also includes mushrooms, or toadstools as they're sometimes known. They are the ephemeral, fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting bodies of an organism that lives mostly undergrown.
I'm amazed how the right combination of water and temperature conditions have produced the explosion of mushrooms in the Prescott area. And I'm even more amazed at the seemingly unlimited variety of species lurking in the area's forests, living in soil and tree bark in an extensive root structure, waiting for the perfect moment to erupt in fruit. Apparently both humans and mushrooms are drawn out of doors and above ground at the same time, attracted to the same gorgeous Prescott weather.
There's a long list of terms to describe the structure of a mushroom: caps, stems, gills, pores, ridges, teeth, etc. And many to describe the varieties of species: boletes, chanterelles, oysters, morels, puffballs, etc. It's also a matter of life and death to know whether one is toxic, edible, or psychoactive. In addition, there are 14,000 species in the world, less than ten percent of all the fungus species. (Worldwide, there are 11,000 bird species and 5,400 mammal species.)
I'm tempted to write about cooking with grocery store mushrooms, the only thing I really know about the fungus. But it's safer to leave off with a little advice to my readers: enjoy the splendor of Arizona's wild mushrooms in pictures and from a distance.
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