Thursday, August 6, 2009

Tiny umbrellas in the grass.

As I was walking through the courtyard in front of my apartment building a few days ago, the morning sun had not yet peaked over the buildings and the dewdrops remained on the grass. I was looking down at the ground as I walked so that I might avoid any freshly baked dog turds, but what I ended up seeing was something much more pleasant than poo (I guess it's not very difficult to be more pleasant than poo though, now that I think about it most things are). Instead, I saw three tiny umbrellas in the grass.



I knew they were mushrooms, but I hadn't seen anything like them before. They had crinkly caps which were only slightly rounded, making them look more like umbrellas than mushrooms.



And they were TINY. The stems didn't even seem like they should be able to hold them up. They were only slightly larger around than a strand of hair.



So me being the curious girl that I am, I immediately headed upstairs (after I completed the photoshoot of course) to look these babies up. I typed "umbrella mushrooms" into a google search to see what came up. And I was surprised to find out that's exactly what they're called! It turns out that they do eventually curl under to make a more rounded mushroom cap, but these were just babies so they hadn't fully developed yet. This is what they look like when they're a little more mature:


Image source.

I thought they were just magical, so I wanted to show them to you. Don't you wish you could just scurry underneath one of them to protect yourself from the rain? Have any of you seen these before?

20 comments:

Pili said...

They're so cute!
And I don't think I've ever seen them before!
They look like the perfect umbrella for David the Gnome!

alexkeller said...

i have not seen these before either - and they ARE magical! i can picture a tiny fairy taking a nap under one of them

Valerie said...

they're magic? Can you eat them?

cabin + cub said...

ooh.. they are really tiny and cute! i have never seen anything like them either!.. perhaps a new mushroom inspiration for your work?

Wasted Wishes said...

Those are adorable...it's a good thing you didn't step on them!

Anonymous said...

So cute! Wild mushrooms always seem magical to me.

Audrey said...

Love the top ones! I've never seen those either. We do have lots like your bottom picture in our grass. Some of them are so short, the mower misses them.

Rheea said...

So cute! They look like a type of pastry I like to eat. Are these edible as well?

Rheea

Briana Shepley said...

Yeah nature! :)

KnockKnocking said...

I have never seen them before, but thanks for capturing them for the rest of us, they are just too neat!
xoxo

Agnes

JennyMac said...

So tiny. I havent seen them before. And hopefully, Tinkerbell found them too.

Anonymous said...

The only thing those pictures are missing is gnomes...
heheee....
:)

apparentlyjessy said...

How absolutely fascinating these gorgeous little mushys are! I can't believe those little stems can hold the top up! Thanks for sharing your special find!

velvetwoods said...

Cute mushrooms,I have a pic of the same mushroom.

Ink Obsession Designs said...

I have never seen anything like that before! So cute (if mushrooms can be cute that is!)!

devonrose said...

oh! those are cute! I wanna eat them :)

Heather said...

You know some sweet little fairies were lounging under there just minutes before you walked by ;)...

OliveStreetStudio said...

nice shots - do detailed! MUCH better than poo....:-)

Anonymous said...

they are magical - very cool!

Jennifer Juniper said...

Ooh, this is perfect for an "ordinary beauty" post! I might have to link you when I get it composed :)
Too bad the tiny fairy hiding under it wasn't captured in the photo ;)

You always make me smile with your comments, but your comment on shucking the corn made me burst out laughing! Thanks for weighing in...the big guy was rolling his eyes when he saw I posted it.