Gone in a day

This cluster of mushrooms was growing at the base of a rotting tree stump. A good place to look for mushrooms is in the woods on rotting logs, stumps and dead limbs.

Commonly called feltscale inky caps, these native mushrooms are evident in June and July in the eastern United States. Although a cluster like this one may exist for a few days before "melting" away, individual specimens will last only about one day.

The black ones at the top of this photo are wasting away into a nasty smelly ink. This mushroom grows only about 4 inches tall. It is beautiful in the middle six hours or so of its life, but it is not considered edible. One week after I took this photo, I returned, and there was almost no evidence they had been there.