Photo of the Day: Lion's Mane

Chekka Lash was running in the Sontag recreation area when confronted with this remarkable sight. “Usually when I run, I don't stop for anything, but this beauty stopped me in my tracks,” she says. It was the size of an orange and located hip high on the tree.

Lion's Mane Mushroom (Hericium erinaceus)

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this fanciful fungus: Hericium erinaceus (also called lion's mane mushroom, monkey head mushroom,^[1] bearded tooth mushroom, satyr's beard, bearded hedgehog mushroom, pom pom mushroom, or bearded tooth fungus)...belonging to the tooth fungus group. Native to North America, Europe and Asia it can be identified by its long spines (greater than 1 cm length), its appearance on hardwoods and its tendency to grow a single clump of dangling spines... In the wild, these mushrooms are common during late summer and fall on hardwoods, particularly American beech. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hericium_erinaceus

Thanks, Chekka, for slowing down long enough to share this surprising specimen with us!