Mycology was a topic that we horticulture students did not study much in school. We learned about some of the more important fungal diseases of vegetation, but that was about all. We could not take the time to study it any more extensively than mycologists could take the time to study horticulture or even botany.

Yet, horticulturists are often expected to know more about mycology than we should be expected to know. Perhaps it is because fungal organisms seem to grow sort of like botanical organisms grow. In ancient history, mycology actually was more closely related to botany, but needed to become a separate discipline as more was learned about each of the two. Perhaps that was at a time when entomology still included arachnids, myriapods and crustaceans. Heck, there was a time when earth, air, water and fire were considered to be the only four primary elements.

I have no idea what this mushroom is. It got my attention because it is so weird. It is such a weird mix of pastel purple, gray and white, with such a distinctly flat top. It was solitary. Not only did I see no others like it, but I noticed no other terrestrial mushrooms of any sort nearby. It appeared amongst blackberry bramble and naturalized English ivy, on the bank of a creek, under bay trees, with bigleaf maples, white alders, red alders and a deceased Douglas fir nearby. The area was quite damp from all the rainy weather this winter. Large and likely old rusty ruddy brown basidiocarps extend from the rotting bases of some of the bay trees. Smaller and likely younger brown and white basidiocarps extend from the rotting trunk of the deceased Douglas fir. All of this is irrelevant, since I still have no idea what this is.