Catoctin Mountain State Park and Cunningham Falls

Hurricane Irene brought more than extreme flooding, collapsed roofs, and downed trees. As I was hiking through Catoctin Mountain Park and Cunningham Falls State Park in Maryland, I noticed an abundance of gills, scales, and stalks. The fruit bodies of fungi were everywhere! I was amazed at how many different kinds I saw growing out of decaying logs, moss, and decomposing leaves.  

The aforementioned parks were sites of Revolutionary and Civil War furnaces that produced large amounts of pig iron. The furnaces required wood to burn and the area was clear cut down to stubble. Under FDR and his Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps, many people were put to work during the Depression planting saplings and cutting many miles of trails through theses newly designated Maryland parks.

A hefty, jaunty, chunky, guy not sure what his name is.

You can see the ring under the cap of the shroomie on your left.

Maryland forest in September.

 Looking down for mushrooms!

Hen of the Woods or Maitake, Grifola frondosa. Commonly clusters at the base of oaks and it's edible! Strangely enough, this fungus is native to both the eastern US and Japan, hence the two common names that are widely different. When Hen of the Woods ages, it becomes too tough to eat.

Jack-o-Lantern, Omphalotus, Clitocybe. These guys are poisonous and bioluminescent, glowing a subtle green color at night. According to Wiki, this mushrooms has a chemical compound that pharmaceutical companies are researching as a possible cure for some cancers. 

View of Monocacy Valley from Hog Rock, elevation 1610 ft. I had to take out a few boy scouts to snap this shot.

Gymnopus subnudans. Little dainties with delicate stalks (or stipes). MushroomExpert.com calls them LBM's (Little Brown Mushrooms), not a very flattering name, in my opinion. They are edible, but the taste isn't distinctive.

Russula mushroom. Looking down on the cap from above. Apparently, these come in a variety of colors; I only saw the red.

A beautiful feathery purplish-blue wildflower that I haven't been able to identify with my two books on wildflowers of the eastern US or with any online identification guides. If anyone has a clue, lemme know!

I believe this is a type of Lepiota, not sure what species. It was a glowing beam on the forest floor on an overcast day.

This looks like Hygrocybe cantharellus.  The Fungi-zette calls this, "One of the most jovial little mushrooms". This makes me love the Fungi-zette very much.

The most worthwhile thing to follow - a trail.

It had already been kicked over by another hiker. I was curious...

Beard. Union General John Reynolds whose corps marched past Catoctin Furnace on their way to Emmitsville and later to Gettysburg. How do I know? HISTORIC PLAQUE of course!








According to yet another fabulous historic plaque, this is "Isabella" the stack furnace, built in 1858 and the Casting Shed. Isabella produced 3300 pounds of pig iron annually that was used to make Civil War ammunition, guns, and a variety of other things to kill people. It blasted at 3000 degrees F and ran 24 hours a day. The furnaces employed deserters from the Union and the Confederacy because they needed workers so badly to keep up with production needs. An earlier furnace, built in 1776 was probably located very close by. During the time of production, the air would have smelled like rotting eggs (sulfur).

Cunningham Falls, the parks namesake.

Hello history, talk to me.