View the spoiler for my guess at what I think it might be, but please first come to your own conclusion before looking at mine — I don’t want to bias your guess.
My guess
Psilocybe cyanescens
They were found in mid-november in the Salish Coast region of Cascadia. They were growing out of woodchips composed of a mixture of western hemlock (majority), and western red cedar.
Side view of one full mature specimen:
A group with a sample of the substrate (the cap appears to be umbonate):
A closeup side view, and internal view of the stem (it appears to be hollow):
Cross section of the gills — they appear to be adnate, or sub-decurrent:
Underside of view of the gills:
Spore print (first on white background (the split is due to two halves), second on a black background):
Examples specimens once dried:
Examples of the colony, and the location/substrate in which it was growing:
Cross-posts:
I think that I would agree that it is at least very efficient means of acquiring mycological information. For example, I went on a day course for morel foraging once, and I definitely learned a lot from that in a much shorter timespan than I likely would’ve by simply reading and asking questions on forums.
yes, absolutely - but it’s not just more efficient, it’s necessary
I’m not denying forums can be useful, they should just be a side thing, in addition to in-person forays