Naturally speaking: Snow on bark fungus
A white paint-like fungus growing on red cedar bark. (Photo by Jerry Davis)
Why the excitement about finding something uncommon, for the first time?
So uncommon is Dendrothele nivosa, it doesn’t have a common name. If one were to be made up, it might be snow on the bark, or splattered paint fungus.
D. nivosa is a fungus that grows on the bark of red cedar trees, and a few others. It looks like a lichen, but that’s of no concern here because the fungus looks like snow on the bark, something hobbyists spend time and money to find and use in decorating for the holiday, or the entire winter for that matter.
When the holidays are over, it can be used as tinder to start a real fireplace. It’s not some Styrofoam-like material that never decomposes.
And no, it does not grow into an edible mushroom. What you see is what you get unless using a microscope.
