I know I'm living up to the most common descriptive written in my old yearbooks ("weird") when my first reaction to finding Bird's Nest fungus is, "Oh, I've been wanting to see those!"
But it's true. If I'd had a Most Wanted list for fungi, this one would've been near the top. I should have prepped myself a bit better though - I didn't realize that they were so tiny. (That green towering thing on the left is an onion.)
It's apparently very much a fungus of bark or wood mulch. The "eggs" contain the spores, which are splashed out by rain. So I'm thinking that our mulch probably already contained the spores when we bought it.
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Key to the Bird's Nest fungi. I believe this one is Cyathus striatus.
Other Most Wanted?
Dead Man's fingers!
Any variety of Stinkhorn fungus!
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Hmm, there's a blog carnival/festival/circus for everything else in the world, but not one for fungi? Or am I just missing it?
hee hee
ReplyDeleteI had to smile when I started reading your post. I, too, was one of those girls who was always being told that I was "weird". And I, too, have always been fascinated with nature. However mine gets even worse. You just want to find fungus. I love to come across "scat", and determine what left it behind. And I love the smell of skunk. Now how's THAT for weird?!
I don't think there's a blog carnival for bacteria, either, and bacteria pretty much rule the planet. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteI would probably keel over with excitement if I found a bird's nest fungus colony in our woods, though we have plenty of dog stinkhorn in the little fir plantations (they like piney acidic soil).
ReplyDeleteI think i found one of those stinkhorn type things here at my place a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't quite that excited. Those things just look so...obscene. lol!
ReplyDeleteIf that is weird, there ought to be more weird people. Discovery is part of the human fundamental process, discovery about nature goes to our very roots.
ReplyDeleteThank you for being "weird", that makes me feel no so alone in this electronic world.
bill;www.wildramblings.com
I have one of the largest colony of Birds Nest Fungus ever seen by man. Atleast it seems like it to me. I did not know what it was till I found this site. Its amazing and beautiful but its invasive and taking over my flower garden. Now what?
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