This has been the summer of the Sulfur Shelf. In almost any year, a woodland hiker will come upon the impressive
bright orange and sulfur- yellow shelf fungus that is commonly called Chicken of the Woods. This summer, the changeable weather, with cycles of very hot and dry days and cool and rainy times seems to have spurred a succession of fruitings of this very large, showy mushroom. Often Red Oak trees and oak stumps are found engulfed in a growth of the mushroom shelving . For the live tree it is a kind of death knell, as this parasitic fungus gradually consumes the tree’s heartwood. Even after the tree falls, Sulfur Shelf continues to fruit and take nourishment from the wood.
bright orange and sulfur- yellow shelf fungus that is commonly called Chicken of the Woods. This summer, the changeable weather, with cycles of very hot and dry days and cool and rainy times seems to have spurred a succession of fruitings of this very large, showy mushroom. Often Red Oak trees and oak stumps are found engulfed in a growth of the mushroom shelving . For the live tree it is a kind of death knell, as this parasitic fungus gradually consumes the tree’s heartwood. Even after the tree falls, Sulfur Shelf continues to fruit and take nourishment from the wood.
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