Fungus – Photos from Northern Norway: A photo blog

Picture of Red Banded Polypore mushroom (Fomitopsis pinicola) on Norway spruce tree

10 Comments / Fungus, Mushroom, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge / Thomas Laupstad

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera January 1st 2009. Click image for larger view.
Here I have photographed a Red Banded Polypore mushroom (Fomitopsis pinicola) growing on a dead Norway spruce trunk. The colored bands around the mushroom made me stop and take a better look. The bands are really beautiful, aren’t they? Also notice the white snow crystals on top of the mushroom. It was pretty darn cold!

The Red Banded Polypore is a common polypore mushroom in the temperate Northern hemisphere. These kind of mushrooms are often found on rotting lodges and they have a distinctive look.

Check out this photo to see the whole tree that were broken in two. You can also check out my other mushroom pictures here.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 1.6 sec (8/5)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 22 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 11-22mm F2.8-3.5
Location: Fjellstrand in Nesodden, Akershus in southeast of Norway

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Picture of Yellow foot, Winter Chanterelle, Funnel Chanterelle (Cantharellus tubaeformis) – Tasty mushroom

5 Comments / Autumn, Forest, Fungus, Macro, Mushroom, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge / Thomas Laupstad

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera September 18th 2008. Click image for larger view.
This autumn has been a really awaking for me when it comes to edible mushrooms (and toxic ones). I did not know much about mushrooms except for golden chanterelles and fly agarics. A friend wanted to learn more about mushrooms so we picked up a book at the library describing edible mushrooms. We went out into the forest and found several types of yummy mushrooms.

In this photo you can see Cantharellus tubaeformis (known as Yellow foot, Winter Chanterelle, Funnel Chanterelle and Yellow Legs in English) mushrooms. Funnel chanterelle was the mushroom that we found in largest quantities and we could easily fill a basket in an hour. The funnel chanterelle has a very pleasant taste and we used it in a lot of dishes. It is so great to be able to go out in the nature and harvest all the delicious goods from her 🙂
We actually found so much funnel chanterelles that we were able to dry a good deal. I photographed the whole process of drying so stay tuned to my RSS feed if you want to learn how to dry mushrooms.

Note: This photo were taken in the southeastern part of Norway. This photo should not be used to identify unknown mushrooms to check if they are edible or not. If you are not certain about a mushroom do not eat it!

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Flash used
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 35mm F3.5 Macro
Location: Fjellstrand in Nesodden, Akershus in southeast of Norway

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Picture of Terracotta Hedgehog (Hydnum rufescens) mushrooms – Edible tooth fungi

4 Comments / Fungus, Macro, Mushroom, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge / Thomas Laupstad

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera September 18th 2008. Click image for larger view.
In this picture I have photographed some Terracotta hedgehog (Hydnum rufescens) mushrooms. They are closely related to the more common Hedgehog mushroom (also known as Wood hedgehog), but the Terracotta hedgehog have a more red and yellow color on the upper side of the mushroom. These tooth mushrooms are pretty easy to identify due to their teeth, instead of gills, on the underside of the cap, but there are some non-edible mushrooms with the same kind of teeth so this is not an entirely safe sign that the mushrooms you find are edible.
We found a lot of both Terracotta Hedgehog and Wood hedgehog mushrooms this autumn, and I think they are really delicious food! We eat them plain with just some salt or add them to different dishes.
Note: This photo were taken in the southeastern part of Norway. This photo should not be used to identify unknown mushrooms to check if they are edible or not. If you are not certain about a mushroom do not eat it!
Check out my other mushroom pictures here.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Flash used
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 35mm F3.5 Macro
Location: Fjellstrand in Nesodden, Akershus in southeast of Norway

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Pictures of Golden chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius) – Our most delicious mushroom

13 Comments / Autumn, Fungus, Macro, Mushroom, Nature, Norway / Thomas Laupstad

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera September 18th 2008. Click image for larger view.
Here I have photographed some delicious Golden chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius). They are the most well known edible mushroom here in Norway and is probably the most exclusive mushroom too.
You can use Golden chanterelles in a lot of different dishes, but I prefer to eat them plain after some minutes on a hot plate with a pinch of salt and maybe some organic sour cream. It is absolutely yummy!

This year we have found a lot of edible mushrooms in the forest so stay tuned for more mushroom pictures. It is very nice to be able to gather edible food from the nature, but it is also a bit scary to gather mushrooms as there are so many toxic ones. I use a rule for gathering mushrooms: If I am not certain I wont eat them! I can also enjoy the meal much better if I know that the mushrooms that I’m eating is safe. If you want to look at a mushroom that is toxic, take a look on my photo of a fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) fungus.

Here is another picture of Golden chanterelle. They are a bit dirty, but fully eatable and I must say I enjoyed eating them. A lot! 🙂

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera September 18th 2008. Click image for larger view.
Note: These photos were taken in the southeastern part of Norway.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200
Flash used
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 35mm F3.5 Macro
Location: Fjellstrand in Nesodden, Akershus in southeast of Norway

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Picture of fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) fungus – Memory from the fall in Northern Norway

7 Comments / Autumn, Fly agaric, Fungus, Mushroom, Nature, Norway Norwegen Norge / Thomas Laupstad

Taken with Olympus E500 digital camera September 6th 2007. Click image for larger view.

In this picture you can see the characteristic fly agaric fungus (Amanita muscaria), also known as fly Amanita. There have been some talk that the vikings used to eat them to get into their “berserk mode”, but this is most likely just an urban legend. If you are wondering, I did not eat it 😉

Captured the photo of the mushroom back in September when there was still some green grass to be seen.

Information about the picture:
Camera: Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/11
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 35mm F3.5 Macro
Flash used
Location: Laupstad (AndÃ¸rja), Troms in northern Norway

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