Washington artist maps the colorful world of Northwest mushrooms

“Oh wow! Look at this!” says Julie Beeler, a Trout Lake, Washington-based artist and designer as she spies a mysterious lump on the ground. “It’s Hydnellum regium!”

Beeler kneels down in an unseasonably snowy conifer grove on this October day and the enthusiasm in her voice sounds like she’s found gold nuggets on the forest floor.

Poking out just above the chilly mosses beside a small pile of elk droppings is a weird-looking mushroom commonly known as “bear poop.” As the name implies, the fungus more resembles a pile of black bear scat than a mushroom. It’s not gold, but finding it today is a treat.