We are finding several Hen of The Woods (Grifola frondosa) in the past few days. Check at the base of your oak trees for this fabulous edible with many layered brown shelves and beautiful white pores underneath.

Also popping up after this morning's rain are many honey mushrooms (Armillaria mellea). This parasitic fungus grows on just about any type of tree. Right now I am finding the mushrooms popping out if the ground under white pine and aspen, obviously growing along the roots or buried wood.

The green stainer (Chlorociboria aeruginascens) is a mushroom that is not often seen, but evidence of its workings are left by a blue-green stain on the wood that it is decomposing. The plentiful rains this summer have allowed for many lesser seen fungi to fruit. This one is no exception. It is a gorgeous little cup fungus.

The Common Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus) has a unique way to disperse it's spores. They develop a smelly mass at the top of the stem, which contains the spores. Insects are attracted to the smell and land on it. The slimy, spore-rich material sticks to its legs and body and is then carried off.

Stinkhorns emerge quickly and can be found in gardens with mulch or among duff in the forest. The immature form, enclosed in a white volva, is edible an consumed in European countries.