I am a mycologist, public speaker, biohacker and photographer currently based in El Cerrito, California.
I've been studying mushrooms since 2001, and concentrate on California, Mexico and South America. I like photography, DNA barcoding and microscopy.
Gymnoconia sp. on Rubus ursinus, a native California blackberry. 1000x with darkfield illumination, showing aeciospores with refractive inclusions in the cytoplasm.
iNat # 345819583 / Mushroom Observer 640437
This Costa Rica trip starts in 64 days! We will be exploring the biodiversity of high elevation páramo & medium elevation cloud forest habitats.
More info: https://www.mycena.llc/costarica-foray
Mycena chloroxantha photographed recently in Oxapampa, Peru. The round cells are cherocytes which make up the universal veil - whitish, spiny acanthocytes are also visible. This species was described in 1983 from Brazil by Rolf Singer.
Olympus OM-1 / 90 mm macro lens / focus stack of 152 images.
Mushroom Observer # 628987 / iNat 341877230
Ceratiomyxa sphaerosperma from Mera, Pastaza, Ecuador. This tiny slime mold makes its spores on little stalks, giving it a distinctive appearance. My favorite feature of these are the glass-like stems.
Olympus OM-1 / 90mm macro lens / MC20 2x teleconverter
Coprinopsis section Coprinopsis photographed yesterday in Tandayapa, Ecuador.
One of my favorite flowers, Lopezia racemosa. Second photo in 365 nanometer ultraviolet. The native range of this plant is Mexico through Central America. Extremely rare in cultivation - grown in California by Alan Rockefeller and @crime_pays_but_botany_doesnt - seed collected in Michoacán.
The interior of the peridioles of Nidula niveotomentosa (a birds nest fungus) have surprising green fluorescence in 365 nanometer UV light. Photographed yesterday in Mendocino County, California.
Sliced in half with a sharp razor blade.
