What's That On The Porch?

Hello friends,

Today we are getting back to nature in a weird way. I saw this strange thing on my porch. It that a leaf or some type of life form? I pick up a stick and poke it. It doesn't move. It looks a bit like a jellyfish in the first picture doesn't it? I can just imagine it floating lazily on the water going where the current takes it. 

Assuming that it is not a living creature, I flip it over to look at the underside. It looks like an image of a brain. I'd never seen anything like this, and wondered how it got on my porch.

So I did a bit of looking around, and found this site, Mushroom Appreciation. There is a lot of information here concerning a variety of similar mushrooms. What I gather is that they grow on dead or half dead trees (I assume dead branches in an otherwise live tree qualify as hosts). We have two large Pecan trees in the front yard which usually sport at least one or two dead branches. When those fall, we often find a slimy black fungus on them. Those are gross, but I think not the same. 

I believe this is the wood ear mushroom, also known as jelly ear, and possible jellyfish mushroom, which is an apt description.

This next picture was taken later that day when it had dried out a bit. It retained it's shape, but darkened somewhat. You can still see the "brain" lines. 

After a few days, it dried out to maybe 20% of its original size. You can still see some of the brain lines, but it is much darker and crispy like a chip.

I find different types of fungi very interesting. There is a fungus category on my side bar where you can see the rest of my unusual finds.

Maybe the occasional afternoon thundershowers will produce some lawn decorations to post about.

Until next time, stay safe and stay sane.