326. Questionable Stropharia

The Questionable Stropharia, Stropharia ambigua, is a relatively common fungus found on the wet west coast. It is found most commonly under conifers, but may be in mixed forest in rich humus, providing a dash of light in the dark, Here on Leaning Oaks it was found near Douglas-fir. It is only found on the Pacific coast from Alaska to California. It is relatively distinct with the cottony white veil over the tan or yellow cap and the shaggy white stalk. It can be found singly or in small groups, both having been seen here. Strophus in Greek means belt, and for this genus refers to the distinctive membranous ring on the stipe. 

The description of this species in the nearly 1000 page tome, "Mushrooms Demystified" by David Arora is full of superlatives that you may or may not agree with.
"There is nothing ambiguous or questionable about this elegant, stately fungus. It is our most common woodland Stropharia and at its best is one of the most exquisitely beautiful of all mushrooms--well worth seeking out."

This past year, 2020 was a year of discoveries and iNatting. We were challenged to do an iNaturalist project where we documented every species possible that we could within a five mile or 8 kilometre radius from our house. This was a challenge posed by a colleague in Ontario and many signed in to play along. What a great thing to do when you couldn't travel far anyhow. Because of the somewhat  um, competitive nature of this challenge, I learned a lot about groups that I had not particularly paid a lot of attention to before, like mushrooms.