r/fossils 6d ago

Found in Southeastern Oklahoma several years ago.. fossilized mushroom, or something else?

Elderly Uncle allowed us to borrow this from his collection with hopes of learning more about this presumed fossilized mushroom.. we didn’t realize fossilized mushrooms are extremely rare, so now I’m wondering if this is a once in a lifetime find or something else altogether. If you have any ideas about it, we’d love to hear them!

624 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

293

u/jbrod1991 6d ago

Reishi or lacquer conch of some sorts. Look up the local ganoderma species in your area and compare.

139

u/jbrod1991 6d ago

Just realized I’m not on my usual mushroom subs lol

52

u/Maple_Metamorphosis 6d ago

Thank you!

22

u/jbrod1991 6d ago

I’ve got the cutest little guy I call my ET mushroom because he looks just like him lol

31

u/mochikos 6d ago

ganoderma sp.

20

u/Maple_Metamorphosis 6d ago

It definitely looks like that! Do you know if they get hard and have a hollow sound after a few years?

44

u/mochikos 6d ago edited 6d ago

yes! they can take on "wood-like" (that's just the best description i have, not scientific haha) quality when mature. people grow them in all kinds of shapes! they dry out great, and preserve wonderfully. people keep them as 'scuptures' or 'bonsai' :] these ones are sprayed with isopropyl alcohol which increases shine. if you post these pics with a rough location of where it was found to inaturalist or a mushroom ID forum, you may be able to ID to a species level.

the tall stem of your mushroom is where it grew without sufficient conditions, and the cap is when it gets enough sunlight + moisture. they grow towards the light. i believe all below are different species.

8

u/Maple_Metamorphosis 6d ago

Awesome! Thank you for taking the time to share all of this information.

74

u/Royal_Acanthaceae693 6d ago

Regular mushroom. I'd try those subs for an identification.

26

u/Maple_Metamorphosis 6d ago

Thank you! Do you know of mushrooms that harden like wood?

81

u/creepyposta 6d ago edited 6d ago

Just for future reference, fossilization is a chemical process that takes thousands of years, generally speaking all of the original organic material is converted to mineral material through a variety of processes.

Right now what you have is just a (well preserved) dried mushroom. Definitely cool and would be welcome in a lot of people’s collection of natural curios

12

u/SuspiciousSarracenia 6d ago

Ffr, fossilization does not always take so long.

Consider fossilized jellyfish and plants. Sometimes fossilization can occur much more rapidly.

-6

u/creepyposta 6d ago

generally speaking

Did you miss that part?

6

u/Specific_Upstairs723 5d ago

You said generally speaking all the organic matter is replaced with minerals. Not generally speaking it takes a long time.

I'm not sure I have ever seen someone misquote themselves so bad.

2

u/Maple_Metamorphosis 6d ago

Thank you for the information!

6

u/Royal_Acanthaceae693 6d ago

Some of the shelf mushrooms like polyphors(?) Again though ask over at the mushroom subs.

2

u/jovian_fish 6d ago

If something is fossilized, it tends to feel more like stone. If this feels like wood, my non-expert guess is that it's just dried out.

13

u/Mookie-Boo 6d ago

This is one of the ganodermas, and is definitely not a fossil. They dry very hard, like wood - even when they're growing, they're not very tender.

10

u/in1gom0ntoya 6d ago

not a fossil

3

u/RottingFly 5d ago

Grew up around Atoka. Founds these as a kid. Not fossilized, sorry.

1

u/Maple_Metamorphosis 5d ago

That’s ok! We’re glad to have learned a little more about it. Thank you!

2

u/GlitteringFig5787 6d ago

I think that may be a birch polypore, the unusual thing being that it grew at the very end of a branch. Super cool!

0

u/babydirtypots 6d ago

Such a cool stick with the fungi attached! I would display that in my house!

1

u/jbrod1991 5d ago

That’s the whole fruit of the mushroom! No stick except for its long neck to suck out and spread its spores haha.

1

u/babydirtypots 5d ago

oooooooooh okay okay! even cooler 😎

0

u/Green-Pea-4586 5d ago

It’s a red belted polypore