There are only a few weeks left until winter begins. Where I live temperatures drop a lot, and everything is covered in white with snow. All the vegetation is left under a frozen white blanket.
Today, on my walk through the woods, I found perhaps the last vestiges of autumn. I found some curious mushrooms in the last phase of their life cycle. How do I know? Well, wild mushrooms of the genus Inocybe (like the ones in the pic) in their initial phase of growth show off their conical, white cap.
As they mature, their hood extends into a circular shape, and their color change from beige to brown. At this stage, they look dry.
It is a stage where the cap extends to allow its spores to be released and reproduce again. But this reproduction does not happen immediately. These spores fall to the ground due to the effects of wind, climate, and other factors, they remain inside the earth, waiting for the appropriate temperature and humidity conditions to germinate again.
Meanwhile, the spores, along with other soil substrates, will form hyphae, a type of spider web-shaped filaments inside the earth waiting for the climatic conditions to be able to come out to the surface of the earth in the form of those wonderful cap mushrooms. Nature is truly fascinating!
@ivankapics photo collection copyright.