Little Brown Ones
by davidwozhere
The fungus freaks call the hundreds of unidentifiable micro mushrooms "LBOs" while giving up trying to name any of them. Mycologists eventually categorise them by means of microscopy and DNA but that is way beyond the hobbyist.
These were growing in the needles under a pine tree in my garden. If you study the image you can discern quite a lot even though this one is barely 15mm across. For example, look where the top surface has been damaged at around 7 o'clock. In peeling it back we can see exactly how the gills have been formed by corrugating the flat surface of the cap. The bumps and valleys are clearly visible around the top while the bottom folds form the divisions of the gills which both protect the spore forming bodies inside and vastly increase the available surface area.
Photo taken with a K1 and the preset version of the 50mm MacroTakumar. This version's ratio is 1:1 vs the later one's 1:2. You also have full aperture control instead of discrete click stops. This was taken, for example, using f18 and a bit.
These were growing in the needles under a pine tree in my garden. If you study the image you can discern quite a lot even though this one is barely 15mm across. For example, look where the top surface has been damaged at around 7 o'clock. In peeling it back we can see exactly how the gills have been formed by corrugating the flat surface of the cap. The bumps and valleys are clearly visible around the top while the bottom folds form the divisions of the gills which both protect the spore forming bodies inside and vastly increase the available surface area.
Photo taken with a K1 and the preset version of the 50mm MacroTakumar. This version's ratio is 1:1 vs the later one's 1:2. You also have full aperture control instead of discrete click stops. This was taken, for example, using f18 and a bit.
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Uploaded16/12/2025 - 00:44
CategoryMacro
Unique Views / Likes15/7
Posted 16/12/2025 - 23:17
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Good heavens Mike. That is so very kind. .... I will therefore prattle on some more:
The top, outer surface can be seen to be covered in radial, fibrous filaments. These are fairly rigid but the underside, with its gills, is being continually fed and it expands accordingly. This results in the outer rim rising above the plane of the cap in general because the filaments cannot stretch. The gills continue to expand however and the entire cap tries to turn itself inside out. The ripening spores are now increasingly being exposed to the environment which will aid in their being dispersed on even the slightest current of air.
The top, outer surface can be seen to be covered in radial, fibrous filaments. These are fairly rigid but the underside, with its gills, is being continually fed and it expands accordingly. This results in the outer rim rising above the plane of the cap in general because the filaments cannot stretch. The gills continue to expand however and the entire cap tries to turn itself inside out. The ripening spores are now increasingly being exposed to the environment which will aid in their being dispersed on even the slightest current of air.
Posted 17/12/2025 - 07:27
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Isn't life extraordinary!
Posted 17/12/2025 - 13:08
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Love it! Have lots of fun guys!
Posted 21/12/2025 - 16:55
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Learned a lot from your text, David. I wonder: does it generate its own mushroom cloud, even?
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