We're at the countdown, folks. I'm now twelve phases from finishing the 52 Forms of Fungi project. Last week, I sat down and planned out exactly which species to include and am really excited to share them with you, starting with bleeding hydnellum! When young, this fungus appears to be "beaded" with red droplets, almost blood-like. As it grows, the flesh will envelope surrounding objects - twigs, leaves, cones, PLANTS (whoa!), etc. According to my trusty field guide that I bought in Oregon a few months back, this is also a great dye mushroom and (surprisingly) produces hues of blue and green. Another common name for this species is "Strawberries and Cream". Yum, right? I'm glad to finally add this little guy to my fungi index, and now I'm off to keep working on future phases for the countdown. For those of you with the day off today, I hope you enjoy your holiday!