As you may know, our Pasty Cam photo inbox has been overwhelmed lately with an avalanche of beautiful and interesting pictures of U.P. subjects. Today I grabbed these various views of "thallophytic plants" which we see everywhere out in the woods and in our yards this time of year.

My thanks to Brian Rendel, Elenore Hopf, Donn de Yampert, and Rob Wetton for such an interesting collection of mushroom stuff. Perhaps some of our Michigan Tech forestry majors can help us with the technical descriptions.

This may sound strange but the top right photo of the two white musihrooms - give the impression of a Mother and Child - the Mother's hand on the Childs' shoulder. I know I know, my morning coffee hasn't kicked in yet!! Wonderful pics!!

I'm having my morning caffeine boost right now, and I have to say, you are right. It does look like a mother and a child, from a rear view. We're coming up this Saturday for an extended weekend visit to God's country - can't wait!!! Even if the weather is lousy. A rainy day in the UP beats a sunny day at the office anytime.

i love the pics, they are great!!! i am drinking my morning mt dew and with that i have a pot of coffee!!! i love coffee, anyone drink starbucks breakfast blend coffee? it is great.. well off for my morning jog. have a good day ya'all..

I,m really impressed

Ashley, first time I had Starbucks, I thought it must be burnt. Thought perhaps someone half-burnt some old truck tires, and brewed them up:o) Since then, I've really started to like it, though. A real wake up brew! Knocks your socks off.

all i drink is starbucks, but it has to be breakfast blend, i don't care for the others. the french roast makes me want to smoke, and i don't even smoke!! ha ha ha..

I think I am correct in saying that the top left mushrooms (yellow with white)are Amanita mushrooms. They are quite poisonous, if I remember correctly from Mycology class at MTU (several years ago). Who knows, I could be wrong. I do not drink Starbucks--I try not to support franchises.

Mushroom walks into a bar, says "Give me a beer."

Bartender says, "We don't serve your kind here."

Mushroom says, "Why not? I'm a fun guy!"

kaija is correct that the yellow with white mushroom is an Amanita, and they are very poisonous. They also come in orange with white and red with white. They have no edible look-alikes. I'll have to get my Mycology book out to identify the others.

re Starbucks; Is fair trade coffee available in the UP?

Ok, Ok enough already about the Starbucks;)I live in a place where there seems to be one around every corner you turn, just another coffee franchise ,charging ridiculous prices,and making mass profit hand over fist, nothing special ,I am sure they have enough advertising dollers to sell themselves,lets not pollute this wonderful website anymore with thier name all day long. 'Nuff said.

I have decided to call the upper right photo "The Blessing", something we should send our children off with every day.

it sure did get nice here today.. 74 right now in houghton. just beautiful.
who owns that classic lincoln i see around houghton once in a while.. huge huge old car? vinal top, and a green gold color.. ??? i love it.

"The Blessing" is a great title for that picture. Lovely pictures.

Thank you for the warm and fuzzy - I agree - is a picture of a mother and child.

Kaija: Right on!!
cg: yes. Check with the Keweenaw Unitarian-
Universalist Fellowship.
And I love the Fun Guy!

When I was about 4 or 5 years old, we lived in the Pacific Northwest at Olympic National Park. My mom would send us out to play. Usually in the yard were a lot of mushrooms and toad stools. Since we ate mushrooms from the can, Mom was afraid that we might eat one of the poisonous ones. She wisely told us a story of how the magic people would live under the toad stools and to never disturb them, or they would take their magic away with them and we would never get a chance to see them. Well, I remember the neighbor boy stomped on all of the toad stools one day and I cried and cried thinking that the magic people were now homeless. Mom was and still is pretty smart.

I agree "A Blessing" is a good name for the picture, and something we should send our children off with every day. Let them know you love them, even if once in awhile it has to be tough love.Most of all be kind. Girls have to grow up & move away before they realize how much their mothers really know. I once heard a young lady say I didn't know how smart my mother was til I got Married & kept calling her for advice. May I also add Starbucks is highly overrated.

The Smurf Wayside pic is the spittn' image of the shrooms in my front yard!! But the real story is the grass...mostly weeds little grass.
Great pics! Be back up in two weeks to see the fall colors.

Didn't the guy that started Starbucks, go to NMU? I remember going to a graduation ceremony and some alumni of NMU had something to do with Starbucks. At least he has had enough sense not to put one in the U.P.

These pix are really beautimous and colorful. "The Blessing" is quite touching. And from what I hear, the mushroom really is a fungi!
:o)
Hei KAT from Paavola. I used to live in Paavola a looonng time ago. My grandpa and grandma's house burned down there. I think it was '47 or so. We lived in 3 different places there.

Thallophytic plants?? Voi Kauhea!! Can you tell that when I went 'through' Mich. Tech. it was during their 'open house'? :o)

Friends dont let friends drink StarbuX...Thats right support your local interests.....interesting thing about that name though- old east coast back in the whaling days of Nantucket...anyone read books about the Essex?

Got Morels????

Starbucks has terrible coffee. They burn the beans. I have been fortunate enough to have coffee to compare to Starbucks and they are definitely at the bottom rung of the ladder. The Mother Lode in Houghton is AWESOME. Don't know where they get their coffee from, but....gggggrrrrrrrrr!!!

I enjoyed the pictures and have seen many of them myself. I have a brother-in-law who picks lots of edible ones from his woods but I always feel safer buying from the store.

What is the mushroom called in the second pic down?? The big one.. I get them in my yard all the time

I agree that Starbucks tastes like old tires. Thing is, coffee beans are sold by major brokers just like any other commodity. Best top graded beans go to the largest, most consistent buyers. That's those that market Folgers, Hills Brothers, Maxwell House. Nuff said.