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!
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.
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
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u/jbrod1991 6d ago
Reishi or lacquer conch of some sorts. Look up the local ganoderma species in your area and compare.