A Mushroom (and our future air potatoes)

We came across this mushroom while digging air potatoes along our north boundary. I don't know what it is; I couldn't find a picture in the books which seemed to match it, and that's what I'm reduced to for identifying mushrooms.

The air potatoes weren't actually on our lot — the ditch they were in belongs to some huge lots to the north of us, along 8th avenue. I don't know if the people there even know that that their land doesn't stop at the fence, but goes clear across the ditch. Anyhow, vines growing there will drop tubers which will float all over our land, so we thought it would be worth our while.

Following that thought, we explored north of 8th Avenue to see where the tubers were coming from to replenish our crop. It turns out that the drainage ditch, which runs up between NW 39th Drive and 40th Terrace, is a real mess. The ditch itself is full of them, and some of the back yards aren't much better. Maybe I should go up along there with the billhook a time or two, and at least cut the vines? Or could the air potato roundup go back in there? It'd be rather rough going.

Along the Royal Park Creek, around 42nd Terrace and 41st Drive, things are a bit better. Back of the buildings it looks pretty clear, as if someone is maintaining it; but where it crosses the streets there are huge vines, as if no one is taking responsibility.

Eating (sort of) wild plums

The first two plums from our Chickasaw Plum (Prunus angustifolia ), planted last March by an Iranian couple, Nasim Yousefi and Jafar Edrisi, who are bicycling around the world, planting a "greenbelt" of trees in support of Peace and Environmental Conservation. They are now in Washington State, soon to leave the US for Japan (but perhaps not by bicycle on this leg). Delicious. We're hoping that next year there will be more of them.

Not air potatoes — really

Any local would instantly recognize these as air potatoes — but they're not. I'm hoping that they are the native Florida Yam (Dioscorea Floridana) but there is a related species, Wild Yam or 4-leaf yam (D. Villosa) which is native north of here but is reported in Alachua county. I'm not sure how to tell them apart, but I can tell them from air potatoes — I think) — because the petioles (the leaf stems) don't clasp the stem. Also it has rhizomes underground, rather than tubers, but that would require digging them up.

The real proof, of course comes in the fall when they don't have aerial tubers. The problem with this is that if they do get aerial tubers, then it means I should have dug them up before that. Fortunately these are right along the path, just south of the worship in nature area, so if I'm wrong we'll be sure to notice them before they fall.

Not the that there is any shortage of air potatoes. I put up the yellow flag to the right last year to mark some Florida yams, but the thing growing up it is definitely an air potato. As proved by the tuber, now in the trash. Still, there are fewer than last year, and, we hope, more than next year.