Bird's Nest Fungi

Emptying the compost bucket, I noticed a Giant Swallowtail, the first in years. After a dash inside to grab the camera and a subsequent data-card malfunction, I watched the butterfly flounce its way through the neighbor's yard, clear a backyard fence and pass out of sight. A little dejected to not get the photo but pleased to have seen this uncommon butterfly in our backyard, I returned to my original task of dumping a week's accumulation of coffee grounds and moldy vegetable and fruit peelings.

On the ground near the garden fence I noticed something even more uncommon than the butterfly, and if not more uncommon at least something I hadn't seen before, Bird's Nest Fungi. This unlikely-shaped fungi, common among woody debris in forests and the suburban equivalent of wood chip mulch, creates a scattering of tiny hollow cones, shaggy on the outside, opalescent on the inside. A spontaneous creation, these conical fruiting bodies, of the unseen mycelium connecting in the dark like brain cells.

Each fruiting body flared and fluted like a fancy glass vase. The "eggs" of each nest, after the recent heavy rains, were missing, dispersed by splashing water drops. The same method of spore dispersal evolved among the lichens and mosses as well. A saprophytic fungi, the Bird's Nest Fungi furthers the decomposition of organic matter in soils.

Posted on 18 de agosto de 2017, 04:17 AM by scottking