From Charly, who notes: This a conk for which I could not find any common english name, so I translated the czech one. As the name suggests, it is inedible (bitter taste) and it is white when fresh. These conks are probably towards the end of their life. I have only seen this one specimen and I do not remember seeing it too often. Latin: Oligoporus stipticus. Click for full size!
© Charly, all rights reserved.
I’d like to thank you, Charly, for the fun time I have looking these up and learning more about them. Some of the mushrooms you’ve posted I know but many I did not and that is always exciting. Also, thank you Caine for posting the Latin! That was particularly helpful with this one!
Someone needs to name a mushroom the “bitter white voter”
Bitter white voter (Leucopolites anxiosus) is found commonly all across United States. It is a saprotroph that feeds on toxic bullshit. It thrives in sheltered media environments, where the hyphae periodically grow into large numbers of voting bodies. The species is often cited growing mainly on economically impoverished substrates, but there are also many reports of it growing on buried moneybags, AstroTurf lawns etc.
The voting bodies look somewhat like the red fly agaric, with their white-patterned red cap, but the prevailing visual impression is that of overall whiteness. The taste is bitter and hateful. Bitter white voters are generally not considered safe for pandering to, although politicians stranded in desperate situations have been known to subsist on them. Large amounts can make your political process incoherent and dysfunctional, which can be dangerous for members of vulnerable groups.
Leucopolites species in general are not native in North America, but several have been well established, and L. anxiosus in particular is often found complaining about more recent invasive species. Despite these complaints, this species is not in any way threatened or endangered in United States. The IUCN has listed the feelings of bitter white voter in the “least concern” category.