These mushrooms popped up in my back yard (Maine) in the mid summer of 2013. These pictures were taken as the mushroom slowly started to decompose, so the whole plant began to darken and curl. I remember it was very rainy earlier in the summer, and soon after the mushroom appeared it began to get very hot, slightly humid. Big Mama appeared first, followed my Lil Sprout. The were the only clusters in my yard, and both my neighbors yards. My yard is mostly grass, with lots of flowering shrubs and conifers. The mushrooms appeared in a low spot on the property, so a lot water collected in that area. Big Mama was about 2.5 feet in diameter, 1.5 feet tall. Lil Sprout was about 1.5 feet almost 1 foot tall.

Please help me identify this species! I’d like to know why it popped up in my yard only once. I haven’t seen it since!





Update: I have an ID. It is the Jack o'Lantern mushroom aka. Omphalotus olearius. It is toxic, and has bioluminescence, so it glows in the dark….

I hope it returns!