andrewkunik's Identifications

This lightly orange colored fungus was found on a dead tree log at the University of South Florida Riverfront Park. This park was dedicated to USF students to hike, hang out and view nature. Upon, first observation this fungus possessed a very thin, flat and bright orange cap. This fungus's cap appeared to be darker orange around the edges and lighter orange as you looked closer towards the middle. It appeared to be decomposing a tree log. The tree's bark was black and the fungus appeared to be scattered amongst the broken pieces of the log. The log was battered and the fungus seemed to be in colonies. Under the cap there were also gills that were light yellow. The location of the log was far from the lake and centered in the middle of the forest. The habitat was in a dense swamp-like forest. The weather recorded in Tampa, Fl on June 15 was a high 84 and a low 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The weather was cloudy and the humidity was 79 %. These photos were taken on June 15, 2019 at 12:17 pm and the organism is named Omphalotus illudens." This fungus is also referred to as the Jack-O-Lantern mushroom or False Chanterelle for its smooth, bright -orange to yellow-orange cap".

References:
https://www.messiah.edu/Oakes/fungi_on_wood/gilled%20fungi/species%20pages/Omphalotus%20illudens.htm

https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/tampa/historic

They grow in clusters and are flat and a bright orange color. They roughly have a diameter of three to four inches. They were found when it is sunny by small trees in mulch. They are fungi clearly due to the lack of leaves, or stems, or any other identifying feature of a plant. One identifying feature is that they are bioluminescent. The references used were https://www.mushroomexpert.com/omphalotus_illudens.html and https://mlbs.virginia.edu/organism/omphalotus_olearius

These belong to the fungi group, which also belong to kingdom fungi. They are round in shape and probably less then one inch around. They also are a bright orange, so they are not hard to miss. They tend to be found in clusters on pieces of wood like dead tree stumps, which is there these were found. (Mushroom Expert).
Reference: Mushroom Expert. Retrieved June 12, 2020 from https://www.mushroomexpert.com/omphalotus_illudens.html

These mushrooms are bright orange in color and are of a smaller size. I located these on dead tree stumps while walking through a shaded wooded area, a perfect habitat for this species.
Kuo, Micheal. “ Omphalotus Illudens.” Omphalotus Illudens (MushroomExpert.Com), www.mushroomexpert.com/omphalotus_illudens.html.