Chatham Mushrooms: A Walk on the Wild Side

My group headed onto the Training Field Triangle trail, where Price and his young daughter, Lucy—a budding mycologist in her own right—wasted no time finding our group’s first specimen: lichen, attached to the bark of a rotting oak tree. With the “Ah!” of recognition, Price explains that lichen, so ubiquitous and familiar here on Cape Cod—growing on trees, walkway pavers or even on gravestones—is indeed fungi. After we basketed samples of lichen with a newfound appreciation for its many variations and intricate patterns, we proceeded down the trail, eyes scanning the forest floor in anticipation of yet more discoveries. “It’s super camouflaged right now because of the frost, but we’re looking for wood-degrading fungi on logs, on leaves, on branches of the detritus on the ground,” says Price. “We can even find them on a surface as small as a single pine needle.”

A short time and many fungi discoveries later, both groups of participants came back together, emptied our baskets and placed our finds onto a sheet spread out on the ground to facilitate easy viewing. Among the specimens found that day, the crowd favorite was the tiny, red-capped “British Soldier”—named for their vibrant “red coats.” Another variety that attracted attention was the Hypholoma Sublateritium, commonly known as “Brick Top” mushroom, which Price identified as edible, but quickly cautioned that it has a look-alike version that is poisonous.