It is late December 2021 and so far winter has been warm and dry. Recent hikes have seen mostly dormant looking bracket fungi and lichens. However the day after Christmas saw extended light rains with heavy fog expected for the following day. From past experiences I knew that these conditions would result in a vibrant explosion of fungi and lichens. I also knew that trail #2 in the Indiana Dunes State Park would be a great place for a hike as a result. It is amazing how fast these organisms which reside in dead and decaying trees and humus respond to the added moisture. Here are just a few of the sights I saw on that hike.
Note, you can click on any image to view it in higher resolution. Some of the closeup images of lichens are packed with small detail.
This is what the trail looked like on that day. Take all the fallen rotting wood and decaying leaves, give it a good soaking and let stand over night and this is the result. Perfect conditions for fungi and lichens.
The soaked in water makes colors deeper and richer. I think it also causes the bracket fungi to perk up. The day before the rail these would have been grayish in color and more of a dried out curled up appearance. Today they appear vibrant and boasting beautiful color.
Zoom in closely and you can see the astonishing amount of detail in the lichen which virtually covered this log.
Here we see some fresh mushrooms popping up in response to the moisture.
Mushrooms and leaves glistening in the moisture.
The underside of these fungi look like stalactites you would find in a cave.
When I took this picture I did not notice my tripod leg photobombing the scene.
Out in the middle of the swamp we see the fungal growth on the trees.
Many people do not realize just how much vibrant life is going on in the woods in late December. Here we see that even the smallest piece of dead wood supports a multitude of life forms while fresh green shoots arise all around it from the rich humus.
Zooming in on part of the stick in the above image you can see the dark circular fruiting bodies erupting from the light green lichens.
Here we see the pore structure on the underside of this hardy bracket fungi on an overturned log.
The beautiful greens, blues and reds in these fungi are popping in response to the moisture from the previous nights rains.
These fungi usually appear as semi-circular shelves protruding from the sides of logs. However they can grow upwards and assume a full circular form, or sometimes as a spiral.
This particular log was so packed with different fungi and lichens that different types were growing all over one another.