sunday, june 19
identification is done! let's take a look at what we found. drum roll please...
you know em, you love em, it's mycena chlorophos, everybody! our little bioluminescent friends.
interestingly enough, these mushrooms are not poisonous, nor do they have hallucinogenic properties.now, these mushrooms were apparently found in a certain neighbor's abandoned room..... i wonder, then, what could have made the previous inhabitant of that room go off the deep end– if she did at all. my husband might have something to say on this...
–miss elsie
saturday, june 18
a (very talented) student of mine approached me today with a new project, concerning this little guy:
very cute! we'll need to conduct a few identification tests. what are those again? hm, why don't we make a list?
- spore prints: take the cap of the mushroom and place it onto a piece of paper. leave it overnight, and the next day, you'll see a beautiful spore print! just like fingerprints, no two spore prints are the same. but the color they leave is a crucial identifying factor. - odor: to get the best results, you need to crush a piece of the cap between your fingers. every genus of mushroom has a distinct smell. for example, many species of agaricus smell like black licorice! so don't be afraid to use your sniffer. - taste: it's unfortunate, i know. but necessary! again, take off a piece of the cap and place it on the tip of your tongue. make sure you don't swallow it, no matter what you do. and if it seems poisonous, just don't do it! there are many other ways to identify that shroom. –miss elsie friday, june 10 hello there, fellow web-surfer! my name is joan elsie, but to my students, i'm miss elsie. i decided there should be a place for me to document my extracurrricular research.
research on what, you may ask? FUNGUS, of course! my favorite subject in the field of biology. i'm always on the lookout for little discoveries, and there's no better time than the summer to explore the subjects you love. to my students, if you're reading this: i hope you do the same!
so join me on my summer adventures! i hope the website looks alright. i love the little "gifs" that move around. very cute. –miss elsie p.s. while you're here, you should check out my husband's web page: he's quite a smart man– maybe even as smart as me! :P (baby's first emoji!) in all seriousness, biology is a part of his work just as much as it is mine. so go see what you can learn! if you ever have a question for him, all you have to do is shoot him a message on facebook.
