Spore power

Caesar's Mushrooms showing spores that have been shed

Caesar’s Mushroom showing spores

As discussed in the last post, the deer were very quick to eat our Caesars’s Mushrooms. I wanted to photograph some mature individuals, so I covered up a young clump with a five gallon plastic bucket. When I removed the bucket a couple of days later, I unveiled quite a sight. We all know that mushrooms reproduce by spores, which they produce from gills or pores under their cap. However, when the spores blow away in the breeze, we get no idea of their true number. Caesar’s mushroom produces white spores. In this case they were confined by the bucket and nearly covered the ground.