Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Master Naturalist, Nature Educator & Writer, Author of "The Everyday Naturalist: How to Identify Animals, Plants and Fungi Wherever You Go" (Ten Speed Press, Summer 2025); PNW Nature Tour Guide, All-Around Nature Nerd. AuDHD. Reblogs, OC, Weekly Deep Dives Into Natural History Topics - Asks Open! http://www.rebeccalexa.com - http://ko-fi.com/rebeccathenaturalist 

[dianeramic]

Dinovember day 11: Kulindadromeus!

[mihai-florescu]

Languages tend to peak at their word for butterfly. Never seen 2 that are the same, either. Papillon. Mariposa. Borboleta. Fluture. Vlinder. Schmetterling. Pillangó. Babochka. Farfalla. Sommerfugl. Perhonen. Farasha. Titali. Chōchō. Nabi. Húdié. Buom buom. Great job guys, i really mean it.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

I'm not normally one to jump on trends, but Disabled Hikers commissioned me to create this illustration of Jimothy, the raccoon with short spine syndrome that has captivated the internet as of late! He's a reminder that disability happens in a wide variety of species throughout nature. This illustration was done by hand (no AI, ever) in Micron fineliner pen and Copic alcohol markers.

Better yet, he's available as a sticker, a poster, a t-shirt--and, coming soon, an embroidery pattern! I've never had my art made into that before! (Ignore the low-res picture above; the printing will be done with a much nicer scan.) All proceeds benefit Disabled Hikers' work to continue making the outdoors accessible for all, and you can find their shop with all the merch here.

(And yes, I am open for pen and marker commissions right now--drop me a line!)

[mymidwestheart]

Well, that made me happy. 😌🎠❄️

[rainbowbarnacle]

[rebeccathenaturalist]

So these were posted over on the MushroomID subreddit; the person holding them reportedly ate the mushroom in the bottom of the bunch raw, and intended to eat the rest, claiming all of them were the same species, "borellis" (maybe a mispronunciation of Boletus). Is he going to be okay?

Well....not entirely. While the unspotted mushroom looks like a nice, edible king bolete (Boletus edulis), the other three are Amanitas, likely either a yellow variant of fly agaric (Amanita muscaria), or Amanita chrysoblema (a synonym for A. muscaria var. guessowii). While these are not the sorts of Amanita that have amatoxins that will dissolve your liver, they contain muscimol and ibotenic acid (the latter of which both enhances absorption of muscimol and can also be converted to it.)

So he likely won't die, but he's potentially in for some unpleasant cycling between drowsiness and delirium/hallucinations, probably some ataxia and other neurological impacts on physical movement, and a lot of vomiting, especially as he ate the thing raw. There is always the chance of severe, life-threatening side effects such as cardiopulmonary arrest, but this is pretty rare.

Yes, there are people who deliberately take A. muscaria for its hallucinogenic and relaxing effects, and there's debate over whether you can effectively reduce the active ingredients through parboiling. Still, there are reasons my personal rule for eating mushrooms is that unless everyone agrees it's safe to eat, I'm not gonna try it. Given that I often find B. edulis in the same places and at the same time as A. muscaria, I'm just going to eat the boletes instead.

A cursory look at the mushrooms he had would have shown anyone with any actual foraging experience that they were two very different species. The hymenophores are different--gills versus pores--and the Amanitas have remnant veils (spots, potentially rings and cups) that the Boletus lacks. That's not even getting into things like taking a spore print (the Boletus should be olive green, while the Amanitas will be white.)

This, once again, is why my foraging classes focus so much on identification skills, and getting into specific traits to pay attention to, rather than just scrolling through a bunch of pictures of edible species. And it's why I dedicated an entire chapter of The Everyday Naturalist to these same traits and identification skills for fungi. I know it's a lot of information to keep in mind, but this isn't something where you want to take a short cut.

As always, you're welcome to contact me at rebeccathenaturalist(at)gmail(dot)com if you ever have questions or want my opinion on a mushroom you found.

[slopforhogs]

Vildsvinejagt by Christian David Gebauer (1777-1831)

(x)

[herpsandbirds]

Tiger Beetle (Jansenia rugosiceps), family Cicindelidae, Vithura, Kerala, India

photograph by Santosh Roy

[pronouncingitwang]

at some point in your life you will be boiling fruit, water, sugar, and lemon juice in a pot to make a syrup or jam. the instructions will tell you to simmer for a certain amt of time. your timer will go off and you will look at the pot and go, "hm, this doesn't look thick enough. maybe i'll let it go for another 10 minutes." this is the devil speaking. it's only so liquid right now because it is at boiling point. it will thicken when it cools down. learn from the follies of my youth and do not let this happen to you

[yokowan]

at some point in your life you will be making a sauce or a stew in which you need to add cornstarch to thicken it. and you will prepare a slurry of starch in cold water and think "this looks like way too little starch to thicken this amount of liquid." this is the devil speaking. cornstarch instantly polymerizes at 95°C and if you add too much it will turn into an impossibly thick goop.

[le-jardin-inculte]

at some point in your life you will be making some sort of cream based dessert that requires gelatin to thicken it. and you will soak some gelatin sheets in water and think "this is too few gelatin sheets for this amount of cream." this is the devil speaking. it will thicken in the fridge and if you add too much you will end up with milk jelly

[shithowdy]

at some point in your life you will be baking cookies. you will take the sheet out after twelve minutes as the recipe instructs and the cookies will still be glistening and soft. "these don't seem cooked enough," you will think to yourself, "i should place them back into the oven until their edges are nice and golden." this is the devil talking. this is how you get dry, overdone cookies. the cookies will continue to bake on the warm sheet for several more minutes and then harden up after sitting on a rack for a while. trust the process. trust the process.

[whitachi]

at some point in your life you will be adding a small pasta to a soup and you will think "that is not enough small pasta." this is the devil talking. the pasta will absorb the stock and expand. this is how you end up with a soup that is a solid mass of soggy ditalini.

[araceil]

At some point in your life you will be adding garlic to a dish and you will think "that is not enough garlic." These are angels speaking. They are correct. Add more garlic.

[liesmyth]

the new euro banknote designs with the birds are sooo pretty... I hope the birdies win

[liesmyth]

I would like to get paid in birds...

[machiavelli]

imagine paying with the MARTIN PESCATORE banknote

[v8ftw-again]

[snailspotter]

Snail spotted!

Diagnosis: Nerita versicolor Common name: Four-toothed Nerite

[telekitnetic-art]

🍃🔥🌊

The starter 'mons for the first pokemon generation.... but in formline! :>

You can find them on my ko-fi!!

Gen 1 Starters - Formline Sticker - TeleKitnetic's Ko-fi Shop

Formline stickers inspired by the starter partners you pick from in the first Pokemon generation! Each sticker is 2.5" in diameter and made

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Hey, I have a book signing this Sunday, August 9, at 3pm at SymbiOp Garden Shop in Portland! We'll have plenty of copies of The Everyday Naturalist: How to Identify Animals, Plants, and Fungi Wherever You Go available, and it's a great chance to meet me and chat in person. Plus there'll be a pop-up craft market the same day, and this is just a fabulous garden shop overall. So you have lots of reasons to come say hi!

[idlelizard]

Pointy Pitcher

[atrusovaartist]

Acrylic on canvas 40*50 cm „Summer Sketch No. 9“

[rosieandthemoon]

Claudio Bravo, 1965

[spindlewit]

quick wave studies.

[requiem-on-water]

Sulfur combusts on contact with air to create stunning blue lava-like rivers of light in the Kawah Ijen crater on the island of Java | Ph: Olivier Grunewald