You don't normally expect to find forests of fungi in the dry desert southwest. But there are little spaces where water collects. And since the Rio Chama region has had a rather moist summer—by New Mexico standards—we were pleased to see some really gorgeous specimens during our recent trip.
Some were very simple, like this tiny beauty, sprouting from a hole in an extremely large dead tree...
Another, much smaller, log sported this specimen...
...not as pretty, but still rather impressive.
But the most amazing fungal sights were in a little grotto under a large boulder that we passed by on one of our hikes. The picture at the top of this post is from this magical space. Thanks to one of our eagle-eyed companions who spotted this hidden treasure!
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| the discovery! |
I couldn't stop taking pictures of the several different fungal colonies that were thriving here.
I don't remember ever seeing so many different, and large (you can't tell from the pictures, but they were enormous!) types of mushrooms in one place...or maybe at all!
My favorite specimens, though, were the lovely brownish-rose growths that I showed you at the top of the post. Here's another shot of the whole group...
...and a couple of closeups of the largest individual members...
The honey-colored drops are water that was dripping slowly from the rock above, nourishing this amazing garden.
In addition to the big guys, there were these lovely growths that looked like draperies, or waves, undulating on this unexpected shore...
The rocks and the rivers in this part of the world are certainly impressive, but I'm so glad we were alerted to these smaller treasures, too.
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