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Fungi

Andy Roberts/flickr

On a recent hike through a forest in Howard County, my kids and I discovered something interesting growing on the side of a decaying beech tree stump. Each of the shelf-like fleshy growths were white-to-cream in color, oyster-shell-shaped and about the size of a CD. The top sides were smooth, almost velvety, but the undersides were heavily gilled like an infinite accordion. They were wild mushrooms, of course.

W. Brooks Paternotte took the helm of Irvine Nature Center as executive director in July 2013 and immediately began building on the strong 35-year foundation. Brooks is a Baltimore native who was a teacher, coach, advisor, dean and Head of the Middle School during his 13 years at Boys’ Latin School in Baltimore. He is also an instructor and ambassador of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and is a Leave No Trace Master, as well as an avid outdoorsman and a features writer for FlyLife Magazine.