I have long been fascinated by the shapes and colors and eccentricities of fungi, mushrooms, toadstools, and lichen. We often have diminutive fairy ‘shrooms pop up in our yard in summer, and I have collected more than one of the fantail lichen from the woods.

Now we are in the best time of year to witness the incredible life of these fascinating—and important—fellow travelers on this planet we spin around on.

I recently unearthed the small collage I made at the top of this post celebrating fungi, and that led me to unearth some of my favorite fungi photos. I’m thinking about drawing them, and I thought you might enjoy them too. So here you go.