Sulfur Fungus III (& final installment, I promise!)

About four days after my last post on the Missing Montecito Mushroom.... I spied yet ANOTHER Sulfur Fungus! This time about 12 miles eastward, down the coast in Carpinteria - in fact at Carpinteria State Beach. This one appeared to be growing directly from the ground, as evidenced above. Note my key and 'clicker' for a hint of how big this sucker has grown.

This side view gives you an idea about the layers invovled, and you can see that this specimen is showing its age - with scuff marks from branches falling from above and the darker, clearer orange below.

In fact this is a MOST SPECIAL Sulfur Fungus. It's being featured as a landscape planting in the median! And you must admit, it's the most colorful and interesting form of life in sight!

My sleuthing has determined that in fact this fungus is also growing on eucalyptus - just like its Montecito brethren. Only this eucalyptus died long ago, leaving only the stump below the soil line - yet the remains are more than enough to sustain an actively growing Laetiporus gilbertsonii.

This individual apparently is well past the 'chicken of the woods' phase as the roadway that it divides connects the main camping areas at Carpinteria State Beach - and with all those cooking fires and hungry local surfers, you'd think it would have made it into a stew pot. Or not.