Foul Odor Caps

I found these mushrooms on a shady trail, but well before I could see them I smelled their foul odor. The fungi clearly means to attract flies since many of them swarmed around a cluster.

Some of the over ripe caps appeared to be melting as they decayed. The decaying process possibly serves to smell stronger and attract more flies! Possible spore spreaders? Yes.

Maybe it was because they had already been out there for a while, but all the caps had at least some kind of mold.

Boletus in Summer

Boletus abound in the rainy summer months.

Boletus varieties are not known to be toxic. Some are edible while others taste highly unpleasant. Many boletus quickly stain a dark blue when bruised or broken. This one in particular stayed its bright yellow color.

An easy marker of boletus for me are their bright velvety caps.

Tiny Pale Mushrooms In Compost And Straw

American Beautyberry - Callicarpa americana

The native Callicarpa americana flowers from the spring to the fall. Being that it is late June, I'm surprised I haven't seen more of them blooming. After blooming, the plant's fruit ripen to a beautiful bright pink/magenta color.

 I found this plant in a pine & oak flat woods but their distribution is throughout the area where they will be willing to grow in either mesic or xeric woods.

Beautyberry is often used in ornamental plantings, which I gladly support because of it's native status in Florida.