In which there are fungi, flowers, and fish

[spiralsheep]

These are September seasonal photos. Click through to flickr for biggerness. Enjoy!

Fungi, Sessile Earthstars, Geastrum fimbriatum: they begin as spheres then their outer layer peels itself back in segments and curls underneath the fruiting body to lift it away from the ground.





Wildflower, Harebell, Campanula rotundifolia: lone, blue bells, rising above cropped grass on wind-blown hills.



Wild fish, probably Rudd, Scardinius erythrophthalmus: not great photos but the best caps of wild fish that I'm likely to get without specialist equipment.

Comments

[lliira]

Beautiful! I didn't know those mushrooms existed, and they are lovely.

[spiralsheep]

Thank you! Earthstars are pleasingly strange and fantastical even by fungi standards. :-)

[omens]

So cool!

[spiralsheep]

Nature is awesome. :-)

[ofearthandstars]

The earthstars are so lovely!! Would you consider allowing me to use the top image to make an icon? I will credit for the photo, obviously.

[spiralsheep]

You may use that image to make an icon, yes, but you could probably find better public domain or creative commons images by searching. :-)

http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&profile=default&search=geastrum&fulltext=Search&uselang=en

http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3ASearch&profile=default&search=earthstar&fulltext=Search&uselang=en

Or using google's advanced image search you'd need to search for earthstar (or geastrum) and scroll down to the usage rights area to specify the filter setting: Labeled for reuse with modification. You'd still need to check the terms and conditions of each image for details but the filter is reasonably accurate ime.

Good luck!

[ofearthandstars]

Thank you for the pointers... I was just particularly struck by the colors in your original photo, as much as I was the shape/beauty of the earthstars.

[spiralsheep]

The dark dripping green forest + red earth does lead to some colourful contrasts. :-)

Pinker tinged earthstars are usually Geastrum rufescens:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Geastrum_rufescens_rötender_erdstern.jpg

[untonuggan]

Those. Are. Awesome.

[spiralsheep]

Thank you. Nature is endlessly interesting to me.

(There might be an even more fascinating fungi post later this week if I have time.)

[turlough]

I've never seen earthstars before. They look so cool.

I love Harebells. They look so delicate and pretty and they flower from Midsummer until the frost takes them where I live.

[spiralsheep]

Even the earthstars that aren't rare seem to have a knack for hiding in the woods. I don't spot them nearly as often as I ought to.

Harebells always seem special to me because they are, as you say, so delicate but they choose to live in places open to battering rain and flattening gales and shattering cold. They even manage to survive grazing by cows and sheep when the grass around them is so short it looks as if it's been mown!