Late Summer Mushrooms 2


Hen of the Woods aka Maitake. Edible and delicious.
Grifola frondosa
Oak and red pine forest, Satans Kingdom, Westwood, MA


Yellow-Orange Fly Agaric. Mind-shatteringly toxic.
Amanita muscaria formosa, in false button and full veil stages.
Under hemlock in the bed of a recently-dried puddle, Graves Farm Reservation, Haydenville, MA


Yellow-Tipped Coral.
Ramaria formosa
Rotten birch, Graves Farm Reservation, Haydenville, MA

7 comments

  1. Nice ‘shrooms. I was trying to take a picture of a lovely orange and purple one the other day, but it was too dark to really capture the colors.

    Also, I used to live in Satan’s Kingdom–but it was in Northfield, not Westwood. 🙂

    1. Heh! I get the impression that at a certain point in our state’s past, Satan’s Kingdom was a popular name for anyplace that didn’t have white people plowing it. The area of woods in Westwood isn’t called that anymore…it isn’t called anything as far as I know, but that name appears in some old (19th century) maps I’ve seen.

      It is hard to take good natural-light pictures of shrooms without a tripod. I often resort to resting my camera on the ground to keep it steady.

      1. I really miss those old type maps, with the odd names of the woods around where I grew up. In younger days, those names really could conjure up some interesting adventures during a hike.

  2. West Northfield is on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River (one of the few, or possibly the only, town actually split by the river). Despite being called Satan’s Kingdom and Hell’s Kitchen, it’s more my idea of heaven–dirt roads, barely any people, a fantastic place to go hiking. Lots of wildlife, beaver ponds, wetlands, old roads into the woods, herons, coyotes. I used to walk to Vermont from my house. I’ve heard several theories about why it might be so called, but the origins of the names are lost in the mists of time (though you can find them still on the topo maps).

    Northfield has some great stories. Do you know about Schell bridge?

    1. I have been through Northfield, but only in passing. It is beautiful, at least from the road. 🙂 But I guess that would be East Northfield? The part 63 goes through. I did not know about Schell bridge—but I do now! I have googled it. Unless there is some sort of secret story of which the internet is not aware? Something with the ghosts of old bridge toll booth operators, perhaps? I sure hope so!

      1. Yes, 63 goes through East Northfield. 142 goes through West Northfield (and comes out in Brattleboro). Satan’s Kingdom is down Old Vernon Road, which has, at first, the feeling of turning onto a causeway–a narrow windy road with ponds on both sides.

        Talking about this makes me want to go hiking up there again–I guess I’m a little homesick for the place, although I only lived there for one winter, and have just as lovely places to go hiking now.

        Regarding Schell Bridge, I’m not aware of any phantom tollbooths, but neither am I a native Northfielder, and you know how close-mouthed those New Englanders are! The bridge is visible from the Pauchuag Brook area, but you may have already seen that on Le Google. 🙂 Now next time you go through Northfield, you will notice that every other yard has a “Save Schell Bridge” sign.

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