Blue pored polypore,Albatrellus caeruleoporus.

I had been aware of this rather beautiful mushroom for many years and I looked for it each time I ventured in to woods with hemlock trees. It is known to associate with several species of trees but has a particular fondness for hemlock. Early in October of 2012 I had agreed to take out about a dozen people in to the woods on a mushroom hunt. I chose a local park because the trails were well defined and the physical challenge was of a moderate nature. This local park has an awful lot of hemlock trees. We had been in the park for about 20 minutes and one young boy of about 12 years of age brought a mushroom to me that I had been seeking for a very long time. No prizes for guessing what he had found, Blue pored polypore,Albatrellus caeruleoporus. As far as I am aware this is the only blue pored polypore east of The Rockies,there apparently being another confined to the western area of the continent.It never ceases to amaze me that finding "the one" you are seeking is all about being in the right place at the right time. This has been a continual theme in my search for mushrooms and wildflowers over the years. This has been particularly true in 2012 when I finally photographed an orchid I had been tracking for five years,for the story on that click here.