This rare (or perhaps just under-reported) ascomycete has never been found as far North as New York before but we think there's a chance that it's here and we're just not noticing it.

It pretty much looks exactly like its common name: popped popcorn on top of mulberries:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/41900855
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/43834001

Mulberry trees are just starting to fruit. So next time you pass one, have a quick look at the fruit on the tree and the ground and see if you can see this odd little asco.

Thanks everybody!

-Sigrid

Alan Rockefeller sequenced a Gomphus clavatus he found in Humboldt County, California, and found that it's not the same as the European Gomphus clavatus. That means that the west coast Gomphus clavatus is either a new species, or it's Cantharellus (Gomphus) brevipes, described from New York by Peck in 1883. To figure this out, Alan needs a specimen from New York state or adjoining states.

If you happen to come across something looking like Gomphus clavatus this summer, please notify me (sigridjakob@gmail.com) or Alan Rockefeller (alanrockefeller@gmail.com) and preserve the specimen.

It looks like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomphus_clavatus#/media/File:Gomphus_clavatus_II_Totes_Gebirge.jpg
It's called the pig's ear mushroom because it looks like a wrinkly purple pig's ear. It's distinctive and hard to confuse with anything else.