We have had a lot of rain this fall and the soil has been totally saturated since the end of September. I have good drainage, so I doubt if any of my plants will be harmed, but I have a new volunteer in the garden.

I think it is some kind of mushroom. Can anyone ID it from the photos below ? Also, should I make an effort to remove it as soon as I see one ?





Smiles,
Lyn

Mushrooms are often impossible to identify from pictures. Unless it's one of the few highly distinctive species, accurate ID generally requires examination with a microscope.

Assuming you don't have dogs or small children around who might eat them, there's no reason to remove them. You are just seeing the fruiting bodies, most of the fungus is unseen below ground. You won't be able to get rid of that part (nor should you want to).

Thank you, Kent.

Why would I not want to get rid of the part underground ?

Smiles,
Lyn

Fungi are a necessary part of any soil ecosystem. Terrestrial plants literally can't survive for long without them.

Thank you, Kent.

I guess they have always been there, but this is the first year I have seen the fruiting bodies. How interesting.

Smiles,
Lyn

It's in the genus Peziza. Perhaps Peziza repanda. I love to see all the mushrooms grow though some can be stinky or get stinky when they rot. I only remove mushrooms if there a bother or a danger to pets or children and occasionaly to eat if I get lucky in the hunt. The California rains brought huge crops of many kinds of mushrooms this year.

Leslieray ...

>>>>The California rains brought huge crops of many kinds of mushrooms this year.

They certainly did ! I am now quite please to see this guy in the garden because my soil was totally dead when I started the garden. No joke. Since Kent said, "Fungi are a necessary part of any soil ecosystem." I see it as another sign that the soil is improving.

I'll probably remove the part of the mushroom in the photo because it is growing at the base of a micro mini rose called 'Si'. The mushroom is almost as big as the rose.

Thank you for providing a possible identification.

Smiles,
Lyn

Here are some photos for you, Lyn

http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/...

and a listing of Pezizaceae (cup fungi) found in California

http://www.svims.ca/council/Pe...

Thank you, Jean.

The spores must have gotten into my garden via the wood chips I collected for mulch from the utility company's chipping pile. The source of the wood chips is the limbing under the electric lines throughout Trinity County, much of which is forested.

Based upon the information in the second link, I do not have the right habitat for the mushroom to grow naturally in my garden.

I generally only use shredded leaves for mulch, but this year, due to the drought, the leaf mulch dried up too quickly and did not perform the function of retaining moisture in the soil. So, I re-mulched most of the garden with a combination of shredded leaves and small wood chips. (I screened the chips I collected from the chipping pile.)

Next year, I'll be able to go back to just the shredded leaves because we've gotten significant rain this fall and the soil is wet deep down again, so even tho' the drought is not over, I don't think I will face the same problems I had this year.

Smiles,
Lyn

Most welcome Lyn.

We have spores for various fungi show up here a lot. Any time I bring in bagged soil or mulch or compost, I seem to bring along a fungus or two. Some return, some don't

Could it be Auricula auriculares, Wood Ear.

I'll look it up.

Smiles,
Lyn

Excuse the spelling.

That should be Auricularia auricula, Wood Ear.