The turkeytails (Trametes versicolor) are strutting their stuff, as is their wont at this time of year. They grow in abundance on dead or dying alder and have no problem establishing a presence in our forest. (I’ve heard them referred to as the “crabgrass of the woods” for just that reason.) They thrive on a stump or log for a year and may appear in the same place the next year, but in smaller numbers. But by that time they’ll have moved on to another host.

I’m picking these now, setting aside those of jewelry quality and cooking the rest, a handful at a time, for a health-giving tea, after which they go into a holding bin until such time as I’m ready to use them for paper.

The forest is indeed generous.