Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Waiparous trails

Came across these Puffballs on 31 August 2012, when a handful of us went on the Waiparous Trails, NW of Calgary, for a day of botanizing. I had done part of this walk before, for the annual Ghost River Alliance nature outing, but the small community of Waiparous has created a few new trails through the forest there. "A puffball is a member of any of several groups of fungi in the division Basidiomycota. The puffballs were previously treated as a taxonomic group called the Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae, but they are now known to be a polyphyletic assemblage. The distinguishing feature of all puffballs is that they do not have an open cap with spore-bearing gills. Instead, spores are produced internally, in a spheroidal fruiting body called a gasterothecium (gasteroid ('stomach-like') basidiocarp). As the spores mature, they form a mass called a gleba in the centre of the fruiting body that is often of a distinctive color and texture. The basidiocarp remains closed until after the spores have been released from the basidia. Eventually, it develops an aperture, or dries, becomes brittle, and splits, and the spores escape. The spores of puffballs are statismospores rather than ballistospores, meaning they are not actively shot off the basidium. The fungi are called 'puffballs' because clouds of brown dust-like spores are emitted when the mature fruiting body bursts, or in response to impacts such as those of falling raindrops." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffball

I've no idea what kind of mushroom this is, but I rather liked the pattern that formed on the cap when the thin outer layer cracked and peeled. Taken at Waiparous trails, NW of Calgary, on 31 August 2012. I didn't get the chance to go to more than a handful of locations where fungi were growing this year, but did see several really special ones. Also, it seems to have been yet another poor year for fungi, so hopefully next August will be a lot better.

Several of us went a long way NW of Calgary yesterday, to botanize the Waiparous Trails area, high above the Ghost River. I happened to notice this little Seven-spotted Ladybug (non-native) on a curled-over grass head. Looking more closely, I saw the spider web, but I don't know if the Ladybug had been caught or not. Happy 1st September! Where DID the summer go? Have a great long weekend, everyone. Drive safely if you are going to be out on the roads.

During a day of botanizing NW of Calgary at the Waiparous trails, on 31 August 2012, I happened to notice two small circles of purple on an enormous midden (hoarding pile) beneath a tree, where a Red Squirrel had buried and stored pine cones to keep them dry during the winter. When I gently cleared away the debris, this is what I found! ID suggested by GORGEous nature (John) - Mycena pura. Thanks, John! 12:30 p.m (noon): Hold your clicks a moment .... This seems to be happening rather too often.

I loved the shape of these fungi that a few of us saw on 31 August 2012, when we spent the day botanizing at tthe Waiparous trails, NW of Calgary. As usual, I don't know the ID.

The light was just too harsh to get a decent, detailed photo of these little fungi, but I thought they were still cute enough to post : ) Not sure, though, if these are tiny mushrooms or if they belong to a lichen that produces very similar mushroom-like growths. I find it too difficut to tell the two apart. Seen when a few of us spent the day botanizing at the Waiparous trails, high above the Ghost River, NW of Calgary, on 31 August 2012.