What does it mean to know a species of tree? If you can remember a species' leaf-shape, growth habit and bark, flower form, and fruiting structure, then you'll likely feel confident identifying a species in the wild. Anyone accompanying you should take your word for it when you identify that tree. Other pieces of information are just extra, right? Additional tree facts might even be considered too much information. Like, for instance, do you know how the species of tree typically decomposes? Does it tend to rot quickly, slowly, or not at all? And, if anyone should happen to bring up particular tree decomposers, then it's clearly time to end the conversation, otherwise you'll end up talking about 'wood ear'....
So, let's talk about mushrooms....
 |
| The arboretum's only scarlet buckeye (Aesculus splendens) has died. It was planted in 1988. Last year, we posted about its declining health (read here), and all hints of greenness ceased toward the beginning of 2026. |
 |
| After the tree died, we chose not to remove it, primarily because it had a handsome trunk that could serve as support for a nearby peppervine (Ampelopsis arborea), an aggressive, heavy vine native to Louisiana that produces black fruits. The trunk of the buckeye maintained a sturdy appearance throughout the summer, but, this fall, we see rapid decline. As luck would have it, scarlet buckeye is not rot-resistant; the trunk is quickly losing integrity, and a species of mushroom appears to be thriving and actively participating in the decomposition. |
 |
| The scarlet buckeye was a small tree. It's trunk measures less than 4 inches across. |
 |
| A large portion of the trunk is covered in a thick group of mushrooms. |
 |
| This is the early stage of development. We see clusters of little cups, resembling the bells of numerous jellyfish. What a weird thought. |
 |
| Zooming in on the tiny cups, we can appreciate the fuzziness. |
 |
| The cups elaborate into a large, asymmetrical, light-peach colored sheet-like growth. Is this one mushroom, or several over-lapping mushrooms? |
 |
| Zooming in doesn't help answer the above question, but we can better appreciate the interesting textures of the folds. Does it look like sea coral, or maybe even a curled-up octopus? |
 |
| A portion of the growth was removed from the trunk. The texture was firm, rubbery, springy and durable. It did not crumble or fall apart. It was flattened out, but didn't tear. |
 |
| This side of the musroom was connected to the tree trunk. It is sessile, so that means it doesn't have a stalk to support it. |
Based on the geographical location, the time of year, the hardwood species involved, and the morphology of the fungi itself, we're fairly confident locating this specimen in the genus Auricularia, the ear fungi, and possibly as Auricularia fuscosuccinea. Even without the species ID, we could correctly call this mushroom a 'wood ear', and wood ears are known to be edible.... Yum?
