Good morning team, happy November. This week's mushroom is the Northern Cinnabar Polypore (Pycnoporous cinnabarinus). It was found in the landscape between mugger's woods and the gill. It's a white rot fungus that lives in and feeds on dead wood (saprobic). It's a vibrant orange, especially when young, but only ranges from 2-13cm in size. It's found across North America, Europe, and Asia and fruits spring through fall (into the winter in warmer climates). The color is caused by cinnabarinic acid which has been found to have antibacterial properties. It's not recommended to be eaten but it seems that some folks have used it for medicinal purposes due to said antibacterial properties. In the picture bellow it's the mushroom on the bottom. The mushroom on the top will get it's proper due later in November.
As a bonus here is a picture of Chocolate Tube Slime (Stemonitis splendens) that was found growing on a black cherry. When poked you could see the spores blow out of the tubes. Slime molds used to be considered fungi but it turns out they're not related at all. One large difference is that slime molds digest nutrients inside their body whereas fungi digest their food externally.
Have a fun week,
Aubrey