Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: white stalk

This photograph was taken yesterday, while exploring Rod Handfield's wonderful forest. This was the only Russula emetica that I saw. Not the most perfect specimen, but I wanted a photo for my records. "Russula emetica, commonly known as the sickener, is a basidiomycete mushroom of the genus Russula, one of many species with a predominantly red-coloured cap and white gills and stalk. It gets its common name from its inedibility, as it causes vomiting and diarrhea when consumed. It has an extremely peppery taste, which is said partly to disappear on cooking, along with its toxicity, though eating it is not recommended. Mixing one emetica with otherwise edible red Russula will ruin the whole meal, and it is a common reason some do not pick any red Russula-species." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russula_emetica It was a late start to my day this morning. Yesterday, 6 August 2016, was a physically and mentally exhausting day, and I'm still feeling the effects. A great day, too, thanks to friend, Sandy! She very kindly picked me up around 8:15 am and we drove SW of the city and SW of Millarville to Rod Handfield's acreage. For a number of years, this has been one of my favourite places to explore, as his forest tends to be full of all sorts of beautiful finds. It is one of the two best places that I know for mushrooms, the other being Brown-Lowery Provincial Park. This year has turned out to be great for fungi, thanks to all the endless, torrential rain we have been getting the last few weeks, apart from the scattering of sunny days. This year has so far had such weird weather - a very mild, dry winter, a spring that was as dry and hot as a summer, and now a wet, thundery summer. We met a group of other interested people, most of whom we didn't know, and we searched the land for fungi. Right at the start, I was telling Sandy that on the last visit there, maybe four years ago, we had seen a beautiful Amanita Muscaria mushroom growing just a few feet from the start of the walk. Sure enough, there were several growing in exactly the same spot, which was so exciting. Later in the walk, we saw two other patches of absolute beauties of this poisonous species. The rain was spitting during our walk, and the forest was so dark, but amazingly, some of my photos came out well enough. Thanks so much, Karel, for organizing and leading this trip and for sharing your knowledge with us! Sandy and I left the group around lunchtime, to go looking at vehicles at one of the dealerships. In the last year and a half, I have had to put far too much money into repairs for my poor old 17+ year old car and finally, I knew that I had no choice but to replace it. The muffler and a few other things died several days ago and instead of spending a fortune on repair, I decided I would rather put that money towards a new vehicle. I had been thinking about replacing it the last few years, but now, enough is enough! I'm down to deciding between two models and will have to make up my mind today. All being well, within the coming week, I will once again have a set of wheels, which will feel wonderful. Thanks so much, Sandy, for making it possible for me to go on the great morning at Rod's place and then, for giving up your whole afternoon, helping me look at cars and for also test-driving both. Appreciated beyond words! You are making this whole ordeal of replacing my car so much less traumatizing than it would have otherwise been!!

Found at the Bragg Creek Natural Area on September 3rd. Not too inspiring a photo, but I love the colour of the mushroom, and wanted it for my Fungi of Alberta Set.

I LOVE it when someone has "picked" a mushroom - then I can photograph it without any guilt : ) Went with a handful of friends to Brown-Lowery Provincial Park on 14th August and we came across a wonderful display of these gorgeous, vibrant fungi. As the name implies, this fungus is poisonous.

This was the most amazing mushroom, so perfect - apart from the strand of grass that was stuck to the cap and a couple of other "spots" : ) The colour was spectacular! Found at Bragg Creek Natural Area, east of Kananaskis, on 3rd September. I usually assume (wrongly - thanks, Stephen!) that any mushroom with a red cap and white stalk must be a Russula emetica, The Sickener. However, Stephen has pointed out that there is quite a number of red Russula species - and no one in our tiny group has the knowledge to determine which kind this one is. Map location very approximate. I've been slow in commenting to many of you - sorry! I've been spending so many hours recently, getting photos "ready" from various botanizing trips and sending them so that they can be passed on to a whole data base of people. I feel as if I'm breathing, sleeping, eating photos - endless : ) And tonight, it's raining yet again, LOL! I'm surprised that there's any moisture left in the atmosphere. Anyone want some rain - we've got lots to spare?

I was thrilled to bits yesterday when friends called me over to see this beautiful, red mushroom! We don't usually see a sight like this, so it was an extra special surprise when we were exploring and botanizing the forest at the Bentz Lake Natural Area, north of Calgary and west of Sundre. And, yes, in case you are wondering, this really IS its colour : )