This picture of some rather magical-looking porcelain fungus has just won second place in the Guardian's 2011 International Garden Photographer competition.
 |
| Porcelain fungus by Gerard Leeuw |
It looks rather like a jellyfish floating under the waves. Titled With Autumn Coming, it was taken by Gerard Leeuw in Ermelo, the Netherlands. He says:
"This is Oudemansiella mucida, usually found on beech trunks from August until November. I like fungi. I was really concentrating on them on that day and wanted to catch the bluish light. As the image needs to express autumn, I wanted the branches in the picture as well. And then I thought of the multiple exposure feature to give the image a somewhat mystical touch."
The translucent delicate white flesh of the porcelain fungus is edible (after washing the layer of mucus off the cap). You'll find it growing on Beech trees in small tufts of about three or four mushrooms: that's why it's also known as the Beech Tuft. And if you hear of a mushroom described as the Poached Egg fungus, that's this one too.
You can see the rest of the images in the competition on the Guardian website here
No comments:
Post a Comment