View allAll Photos Tagged Mycelial
mycelial armies on the rise ... ;)
A gorgeous cluster of ink cap and sulphur tuft fungi roaming in hidden spots of Langley Wood, New Forest.
A tree on Dartmoor, near to Wistman’s Wood; patiently waiting for spring to arrive.
I can't help but imagine that we tend to see trees upside down and that the real glory is below the surface of the earth, where what we call the roots interact with the mycelial network. What if what we see above the surface is actually the root system?
Just a silly thought; pay it no heed.
But sometimes, when I see trees like this, I get the feeling that they're trying to escape the prison of the soil, to fly free into the atmosphere and beyond. Sometimes I can hear them straining against the earth. And in my darker moments, I may have heard them scream...
Anyway, another silly thought; just ignore it and go on your way...
20 hand-held exposures representing two minutes and three seconds of January 5th 2020.
I absolutely love trees. The simple fact that they live longer than humans (if they are let) and they are way more complex than we generally give them credit for. Scientists have discovered that trees communicate with each other through a gigantic network of microscopic fungi (called mycelial network) that enables them to exchange information with each other such as warnings, storing memories and responding to attacks. Also the trees and the fungi form a symbiotic relationship where they exchange resources such as organic matter and minerals. I think that is amazing and while I always loved trees, this understanding enhances my respect and admiration for them.
The Mycothera Gigantea Ecosystem is a remarkable and unique biosphere located on the alien planet Mycoterra (Planetis Mycoterra). This planet, situated in the Andromeda Galaxy, hosts an environment dominated by colossal fungal structures that form the primary vegetative landscape.
Ecosystem Overview:
The Mycothera Gigantea, named for its immense size, is the predominant species within this ecosystem. These fungal organisms can reach heights of up to 50 meters and diameters of 20 meters, creating a canopy that rivals the largest trees on Earth. The ecosystem is characterized by a dense mist that envelops the landscape, providing the necessary moisture for these fungi to thrive.
Planetary Conditions:
Mycoterra's atmosphere is rich in nitrogen and carbon dioxide, with trace amounts of oxygen, creating an environment ideal for fungal growth. The planet's gravity is slightly lower than Earth's, contributing to the towering height of the Mycothera Gigantea. Temperatures on Mycoterra average around 15°C (59°F), with high humidity levels maintained by frequent mist and light rain.
Fungal Structure:
The Mycothera Gigantea possesses a robust and intricate network of hyphae, which form a massive underground mycelium. This mycelial network connects individual fungi, facilitating nutrient exchange and communication across vast distances. The cap of the fungus, or the sporocarp, is supported by a thick stipe that can store water and nutrients, ensuring the organism's survival during drier periods.
AI creation
The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the western United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into southeastern Washington. The range has an area of 4,060 square miles (10,500 km2), stretching east and southeast of Pendleton, Oregon, to the Snake River along the Oregon-Idaho border. The Blue Mountains cover eight counties in Oregon and Washington; they are Union, Umatilla, Grant, Baker, and Wallowa counties in Oregon, and Walla Walla, Columbia and Garfield counties in Washington. They are home to the world's largest organism and fungal mycelial mat, the Armillaria ostoyae. The Blue Mountains were so named due to the color of the mountains when seen from a distance
This book series by Enid Blyton was one of my favorites when I was a kid. I couldn’t resist using it as the caption after seeing the documentary “The Fantastic Fungi” that mentions fungi/mushrooms as celebrities.
Have a great Wednesday friends, thank you for your visit:)))
Scleroderma citrinum, commonly known as the common earthball, pigskin poison puffball, or common earth ball, is the most common species of earthball in the UK and occurs widely in woods, heathland and in short grass from autumn to winter. Scleroderma citrinum has two synonyms, Scleroderma aurantium (Vaill.) and Scleroderma vulgare Horn.
Earthballs are superficially similar to, and considered look-alikes of, the edible puffball (particularly Apioperdon pyriforme), but whereas the puffball has a single opening on top through which the spores are dispersed, the earthball just breaks up to release the spores. Moreover, Scleroderma citrinum has much firmer flesh and a dark gleba (interior) much earlier in development than puffballs. Scleroderma citrinum has no stem but is attached to the soil by mycelial cords. The peridium, or outer wall, is thick and firm, usually ochre yellow externally with irregular warts.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scleroderma_citrinum?wprov=sfla1
We had been walking for a while in the strange, eerie hedge labyrinth. I was trying my best to keep up with Sharian and Morgan, who were hushedly chatting about arcane herbalism and lore.
As we walked deeper, I started seeing more strange flowers and plants besides the whispering roses—all possessing powerful magical and arcane properties. Some I recognized, but others were completely alien to me.
One I did recognize, though, was the eerie Ghost Pipe. It was a glowing, almost translucent flower famous for its liminal nature: a plant that grew only in the shadowed areas of the most ancient woods, feeding on the rich fungi and mycelial network underneath, and not from the sun, as most plants did. It is said that the ghost pipe grows where the veil between the worlds thins, and is glass-like, luminous flowers often mark thresholds to the fae and other subtle realms. Given the circumstances, I suspected with more reason than ever that after the next turn in the hedge maze, we would find ourselves standing in the Otherworld.
The Rose Labyrinth
The Apprentice's Journal
***************************************
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Nov 7-30
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In the quiet of the forest glade, Two mushrooms met, their love unswayed. Their caps touched gently, colors bright, A secret whispered in the moon’s soft light.
“Let’s intertwine our mycelial threads, Create a bond that nature dreads. Beneath the canopy, we’ll dance and sway, In this hidden world, forever we’ll stay.”
Their stems entwined, a tender embrace, In the cool earth, they found their place. Their love bloomed silently, like morning dew, A mycelium kiss, forever true.
And so, beneath the ancient trees, Two mushrooms loved, with hearts at ease. Their spores danced on the forest breeze, A love story whispered among the leaves.🍄❤️
Inspired by the 2019 documentary "Fantastic Fungi", which is highly recommended dear friends! Fungi and their mycelial network are amazing. Never knew they could be our future. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxABOiay6oA
Enjoy your Thursday :)
Mutinus caninus, commonly known as the dog stinkhorn and also the faeces carota, is a small thin, phallus-shaped woodland fungus, with a dark tip. It is often found growing in small groups on wood debris, or in leaf litter, during summer and autumn in Europe, Asia, and eastern North America. It is not generally considered edible, although there are reports of the immature 'eggs' being consumed.
The genus name Mutinus was a phallic deity, Mutinus Mutunus (known to the Greeks as Priapus), one of the Roman di indigetes placated by Roman brides, and caninus means "dog-like" in Latin. Mutinus is the diminutive of muto, a Latin word for Penis. It was described initially by William Hudson (1730–1793), a noted British botanist. Its common names in French, Phallus de Chien, Satyre des chiens, also hint at its resemblance to a dog penis. It is commonly known as the "dog stinkhorn".
This small member of the family Phallaceae emerges from an off-white egg-like fruiting body that lies half buried in leaf litter on the woodland floor. White mycelial cords (rhizomorphs), are often visible beneath this 'egg', which is 2–4 cm (1–1.5 in) high, and 1–2 cm (0.5–1 in) wide. The 'egg' has a tough outer skin (peridium), which covers a gelatinous inner layer, which in turn protects the fully formed, but unexpanded fruiting body. When the ‘egg’ splits open the fungus expands rapidly (usually within a few hours), to its full height of 10–12 cm (4–4.5 in). It is around 1 cm (0.5 in) thick, and is either yellowish-white, yellow, or pale orange. The split egg is retained as a volva-like sack, at the base. The column is very fragile, pitted, and cylindrical. It has a pointed tip, and is usually curved. The tip is covered in the spore bearing matter (gleba) which is a dark olive-brown paste, and has a smell which is irresistible to insects. (These insects help distribute the spores on their bodies, and in their stomachs.) Beneath the spore mass the tip is dark orange. Although its smell is not as strong as the related common stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus), it has been described as smelling like cat faeces.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutinus_caninus?wprov=sfla1
Mutinus caninus, de ses noms vernaculaires, Phalle ou Phallus de chien, ou Satyre du chien est un champignon agaricomycète du genre Mutinus et de la famille des Phallaceae.
Contrairement au genre Phallus (Satyre puant), les espèces du genre Mutinus sont beaucoup plus grêles et n'ont pas de "chapeau" séparable, la gléba recouvrant plus ou moins la partie supérieure du stipe.
Le primordium de Mutinus caninus sort d'un œuf ovoïde, piriforme ou cylindracé, jusqu'à 4 × 2 cm, relié à plusieurs longs cordons mycéliens, appelés rhizoïdes. À la coupe, comme les Phallus mais l'amande est plus étirée et rougeâtre ,.
L'adulte mesure 8-10 (15) cm de haut et 5 à 10 mm de diamètre au niveau de la partie fertile".
Cortivermis Syndrome is a degenerative infection caused by the symbiotic parasite Cortivermis sanguinea, a filamentous organism that infiltrates neural and dermal tissues. Its name comes from Latin: cortex (brain) and vermis (worm). The pathogen’s life cycle centers around the cerebral cortex, where it intertwines with neural pathways, feeding on bioelectrical activity. Initial infection typically occurs through contact with contaminated organic material or aerosolized spores. Once inside the host, microscopic larvae migrate through the bloodstream and lodge in the capillary networks of the face and brain. Within 72 hours, the organism begins constructing a porous, coral-like bio-matrix across soft tissues — a structure that provides oxygen diffusion and electrical conductivity. This growth manifests externally as reddish lattice lesions, usually on one side of the face. By day 10, the infection reaches the frontal and temporal lobes. The parasite establishes a neural interface, effectively hijacking sensory inputs and emotional regulation. Victims report auditory distortions, metallic taste sensations, and heightened aggression. Advanced stages result in partial ossification of the parasite’s network — the “cortical shell” — where nerve signals are rerouted through foreign tissue, giving the illusion of dual consciousness. First recorded in 2143 CE after an outbreak in the Novaya Murmansk Research Zone, where a mycelial biofuel experiment went rogue. Over 300 researchers were quarantined; only 17 survived.
Image originally generated with DALL-E, then enhanced through upscaling in Leonardo AI and finally refined with Topaz Gigapixel AI.
Carpóforo globoso saciforme, nace semienterrado. Desarrolla un exoperidio no higroscópico de 5-8 lacinias triangulares 3-5 cms., carnosas, curvadas hacia abajo, color crema-gris con 3 capas: micelial (lisa, sin aglomerar sustrato, cara externa afieltrada); fibrosa (papirácea de joven, inconsistente con humedad, color blanco-sucio); carnosa (blanca-ocre y tras madurar, gleba pardo-oscura). Endoperidio globoso 0,5-1,5, con peristoma dehiscente (apertura automática, por cristales de oxalato cálcico), cónico, bien delimitado por círculo deprimido esférico, de color algo más claro que el resto del endoperidio. Sésil. Carne escasa, marrón, de carnosa vira a coriácea. Inodora, sabor amargo. Esporada marrón-oscuro, esporas esféricas y verrucosas. Globose saciform carpophore, born semi-buried. It develops a non-hygroscopic exoperidium of 5-8 triangular laciniae 3-5 cm., fleshy, curved downwards, cream-gray color with 3 layers: mycelial (smooth, without agglomerating substrate, felted external face); fibrous (papyraceous when young, inconsistent with moisture, white-dirty color); fleshy (ocher-white and after ripening, dark-brown gleba). Globose endoperidium 0.5-1.5, with dehiscent peristome (automatic opening, by calcium oxalate crystals), conical, well delimited by a depressed spherical circle, slightly lighter in color than the rest of the endoperidium. Sessile. Flesh scarce, brown, fleshy turns to leathery. Odourless, bitter taste. Spore dark-brown, spherical and warty spores
Wetenschappelijk: Armillaria mellea
Scientific name: Armillaria mellea
honey fungus
Armillaria mellea, commonly known as honey fungus, is a basidiomycete fungus in the genus Armillaria. It is a plant pathogen and part of a cryptic species complex of closely related and morphologically similar species. It causes Armillaria root rot in many plant species and produces mushrooms around the base of trees it has infected. The symptoms of infection appear in the crowns of infected trees as discoloured foliage, reduced growth, dieback of the branches and death. The mushrooms are edible but some people may be intolerant to them. This species is capable of producing light via bioluminescence in its mycelium.
Armillaria mellea is widely distributed in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The fruit body or mushroom, commonly known as stump mushroom, stumpie, honey mushroom, pipinky or pinky, grows typically on hardwoods but may be found around and on other living and dead wood or in open areas.
The main part of the fungus is underground where a mat of mycelial threads may extend for great distances. They are bundled together in rhizomorphs that are black in this species. The fungal body is not bioluminescent but its mycelia are luminous when in active growth.
Doesn't mother nature always find a way to protect its babies? Happy Tuesday dear friends, thank you for your view.
Happy Monday dear friends. I had the privilege of camping in one of Michigan's state parks last week and saw an amazing variety of mushrooms. Some, I've never seen before. The foot trails were an amazing way of relaxing away from all chaos of the city. It was also a great way of seeing all the amazing living things we share this world with. I am planning to share them with you in this new series, thank you for kindly visiting my page :)))
In the quiet of the forest glade, Two mushrooms met, their love unswayed. Their caps touched gently, colors bright, A secret whispered in the moon’s soft light.
“Let’s intertwine our mycelial threads, Create a bond that nature dreads. Beneath the canopy, we’ll dance and sway, In this hidden world, forever we’ll stay.”
Their stems entwined, a tender embrace, In the cool earth, they found their place. Their love bloomed silently, like morning dew, A mycelium kiss, forever true.
And so, beneath the ancient trees, Two mushrooms loved, with hearts at ease. Their spores danced on the forest breeze, A love story whispered among the leaves.🍄❤️
Snow clouds moving across the Blue Mountains.
The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the western United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into southeastern Washington. The range has an area of 4,060 square miles (10,500 km2), stretching east and southeast of Pendleton, Oregon, to the Snake River along the Oregon-Idaho border. The Blue Mountains cover eight counties in Oregon and Washington; they are Union, Umatilla, Grant, Baker, and Wallowa counties in Oregon, and Walla Walla, Columbia and Garfield counties in Washington. They are home to the world's largest organism and fungal mycelial mat, the Armillaria ostoyae. The Blue Mountains were so named due to the color of the mountains when seen from a distance
American Caesar Mushrooms (Amanita jacksonii or similar).
These mushrooms are mycorrhizal, in this case, most likely forming a partnership with a hickory tree. The fungus' hyphae form a sheath around root tips, and the tree and the fungus both benefit byexchanging nutrients that they can't acquire on their own. Here, the emerging mushrooms trace the path of a tree root, and for a few days, the mycorrhizal association taking place beneath the surface becomes visible above the ground.
Tombigbee National Forest. Winston County, Mississippi.
There are several forms of Honey Fungus within the Armillaria genus.
This parasitic fungi is fairly common and widespread. It can cause serious damage to conifer and broad-leaved trees, leading to the death of the host.
Mycelial threads spread throughout the tree and from one tree to another. Black root forms called rhizomorphs develop beneath the bark of a tree and are capable of linking an infected tree to a new host some distance away.
Once the fruiting bodies appear nearby it's too late, the damage is done and the host's fate sealed.
This example was photographed in rural Gloucestershire, close to the stump of a tree already cut down and removed.
Here's a community of shrooms living happily all together. It was looking so cute, almost like a Smurf village, I couldn't resist taking the photo even though the light was too bright.
Happy Wednesday dear friends, surround yourself with all the fun guys you could find and have an amazing day :)) Thanks for your visit.
Wetenschappelijk: Armillaria mellea
Scientific name: Armillaria mellea
honey fungus
Armillaria mellea, commonly known as honey fungus, is a basidiomycete fungus in the genus Armillaria. It is a plant pathogen and part of a cryptic species complex of closely related and morphologically similar species. It causes Armillaria root rot in many plant species and produces mushrooms around the base of trees it has infected. The symptoms of infection appear in the crowns of infected trees as discoloured foliage, reduced growth, dieback of the branches and death. The mushrooms are edible but some people may be intolerant to them. This species is capable of producing light via bioluminescence in its mycelium.
Armillaria mellea is widely distributed in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The fruit body or mushroom, commonly known as stump mushroom, stumpie, honey mushroom, pipinky or pinky, grows typically on hardwoods but may be found around and on other living and dead wood or in open areas.
The main part of the fungus is underground where a mat of mycelial threads may extend for great distances. They are bundled together in rhizomorphs that are black in this species. The fungal body is not bioluminescent but its mycelia are luminous when in active growth.
/----/ FUNGAL CORRUPTION DETECTED /----/
/----/ ENVIRONMENT SEALS HOLDING /----/
/----/ LOCATE AND DESTROY MYCELIAL CORE /----/
This started off from a leftover leg design I didn't end up using for the MedBot. It's surprisingly stable, as long as it's attached to the base.
Lycoperdon pyriforme is one of only a few puffballs that grow on wood, which makes it fairly easy to identify. Other distinguishing features include the fact that its outer surface is only finely spiny, with spines that usually wear off; and the long white mycelial strings attached to its stem, which is often pinched off at the base—resulting in the pear-shaped ("pyriform") overall appearance that gives the species its name. (MushroomExpert.com)
Peervormige stuifzwam : De peervormige stuifzwam is 1-6 cm hoog en heeft de vorm van een omgekeerde peer. Jonge exemplaren zijn vuil wittig, niet geheel wit zoals de parelstuifzwam (Lycoperdon perlatum) en soms bezet met fijne, donkere wratjes. Oudere exemplaren zijn kaal en olijfbruin. Het vlees is eerst zuiver wit, maar wordt daarna omgezet tot sporen die olijfkleurig zijn.
De Peervormige stuifzwam wordt van augustus tot november aangetroffen. De zwam groeit in groepen op vermolmde stronken, houtresten op humusrijke grond in loofbossen en ook op kegels van naaldbomen. In Nederland is het een zeer algemeen voorkomende soort.
De peervormige stuifzwam is jong eetbaar zolang het vlees wit is. Wanneer het binnenste bruin geworden is: niet meer gebruiken. (Wikipedia)
American Caesar Mushrooms (Amanita jacksonii or similar).
These mushrooms are mycorrhizal, in this case, most likely forming a partnership with a hickory tree. The fungus' hyphae form a sheath around root tips, and the tree and the fungus both benefit byexchanging nutrients that they can't acquire on their own. Here, the emerging mushrooms trace the path of a tree root, and for a few days, the mycorrhizal association taking place beneath the surface becomes visible above the ground.
Tombigbee National Forest. Winston County, Mississippi.
From April through to the first heavy frosts, a walk in mixed woodland rarely fails to reveal Sulphur Tufts fruiting on fallen trees, decaying stumps or, occasionally, hollow trunks of living trees.
This wood-rotting fungus is not a fussy feeder it tackles deciduous hardwoods as well as conifers apparently with equal relish, although it is most effective in rotting broadleaf trees (hardwoods), which generally have a higher cellulose content and rather lower lignin content than conifers.
Sulphur Tuft fungi (in the USA the spelling in common use is Sulfur Tuft) are gregarious and tend to appear in large groups so tightly packed that the caps are unable to expand regularly. The tuft shown on the left is one such example; these jostling fruitbodies were growing beside the stump of a dead conifer, their mycellium having invaded the root system.
Displays of Sulphur Tufts can recur on large stumps for two or three years in succession before the timber is reduced to its hard core of lignin, at which point other lignin-eating fungi move in to finish it off.
Hypholoma, the genus name, means 'mushrooms with threads'. It may be a reference to thev thread-like partial veil that connects the cap rim to the stem of young fruitbodies, although some authorities suggest that it is a reference to the thread-like rhizomorphs (root-like bundles of mycelial hyphae) that radiate from the stem base.
It hardly needs mentioning that the common name Sulphur Tuft is a reference to the bright sulphur-yellow colour of the caps of these fungi combined with their habit of growing in tightly bunched tufts.
he specific epithet fasciculare comes from the Latin word fasces, a bundle of rods bound around an axe-head used by magistrates in ancient Roman magistrate as a symbol of authority and power. Fascism comes from the same source, implying a small group (or bundle) with imposed and centralised authority and power.
Very variable in cap size, the Sulphur Tuft fungus, Hypholoma fasciculare, is inedible with a very bitter taste. In Britain and Europe Hypholoma fasciculare has been linked to severe cases of poisoning and most probably at least one death; however, there seems to be little published information about the 'Fasciculol' toxins involved. Strangely, the same species in the USA is reported to be edible, although its extremely bitter taste ought to be quite effective as a deterrent for people with any taste buds at all.
Although only very rarely fatal, poisoning by Hypholoma fasciculare is occasionally reported and it can result in severe symptoms, including not only stomach pains and nausea but also temprary paralysis and distorted vision. Sulphur Tuft fungi have such a bitter taste, however, that only the most determinied fungiphage is likely to want to eat them. Concealed within a meal of otherwise edible fungi it is possible that the bitter taste of Sulohur Tusts could go unnoticed. There is a delay of typically five to ten hours between ingestion of these fungi and the appearance of symptoms of poisoning.
Photographed in an area of Black Park known as Fulmershe Heath, near Iver Heath, Berkshire, UK.
Scleroderma citrinum, commonly known as the common earthball, pigskin poison puffball, or common earth ball, is the most common species of earthball in the UK and occurs widely in woods, heathland and in short grass from autumn to winter. Scleroderma citrinum has two synonyms, Scleroderma aurantium (Vaill.) and Scleroderma vulgare Horn.
Earthballs are superficially similar to, and considered look-alikes of, the edible puffball, but whereas the puffball has a single opening on top through which the spores are dispersed, the earthball just breaks up to release the spores. Moreover, Scleroderma citrinum has much firmer flesh and a dark gleba (interior) much earlier in development than puffballs. Scleroderma citrinum has no stem but is attached to the soil by mycelial cords. The peridium, or outer wall, is thick and firm, usually ochre yellow externally with irregular warts.
The earthball may be parasitized by Pseudoboletus parasiticus.
Ingestion of Scleroderma citrinum can cause gastrointestinal distress in humans and animals, and some individuals may experience lacrimation, rhinitis and rhinorrhea, and conjunctivitis from exposure to its spores.
Photographed at Ebernoe Common, Near Petworth, West Sussex, UK.
Scientific name: Geastrum quadrifidum
Wetenschappelijk: Geastrum quadrifidum
Vierslippige aardster
Beschrijving
Vruchtlichaam gesloten bolvormig, met 4 met de punten vastgehechte, rechtopstaande slippen, Ø 2-4 cm. Onderzijde wittig tot lichtbruin. Binnenzijde wittig of crème tot bruin. Bol Ø 5-15 mm, met een scherpe overgang gesteeld, met een hof of ringvoor om de kegelvormige, gewimperde opening, melig, beige-grijs tot donkergrijs of bleekbruin.
Voorkomen
Op droge tot matig vochtige zandgrond in naaldbossen met een dikke strooisellaag.
Saprofiet.
Status
Zeer zeldzaam, Rode Lijst (Ernstig Bedreigd).
English
« habitat: coniferous
« star-rays: number 4(-6), almost vertically spread (=fornicate)
« stem: at older age there is a short stem (under left balloon)
« mouth-zone: fibrillose (fimbriate), with ring-furrow and court
« balloon: darker than star-rays (uncommon)
« nest: the nest of encrusted debris (mycelial cup) excluded.
Habitat:
Mainly a coniferous earthstar, found in forests with an age of sixty years and older, at calcareous sand and clay.
Outside of the Netherlands also in deciduous woods and on open grassland vegetations at calcareous soil.
Round 1890 a lot of walking sandhills (pleistocene and dunal) in the Netherlands were fixated against the wind by planting pine trees. Experimental calc was added often to prepare the soil for pine tree growth.
A lot of the older Rayed Earthstar habitats were situated in such planted pine forests. Their number is starting to decrease. in the last decennia. Cause might be the age of the forest or the decalcification process by acid rain.
Wood species:
Coniferous (abies, juniper, larch, pinus)
Rare in deciduous wood (els, birch, sea buckthorn)
Geastrum quadrifidum, commonly known as the rayed earthstar or four-footed earthstar, is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum, or earthstar fungi. First described scientifically by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1794, G. quadrifidum is a cosmopolitan—but not common—species of Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. The fungus is a saprobe, feeding off decomposing organic matter present in the soil and litter of coniferous forests.
The small, tough, fruit bodies are grayish-brown balls that are initially enclosed by a skin, or peridium, made up of four distinct layers of tissue. The outer tissue layer splits to form star-like rays and expose a circular spore case. Inside the spore case is the gleba—fertile spore-producing tissue that is white and firm when young, but becomes brown and powdery in age. The grayish-brown spore case is set on a short, slender stalk, and has a well-defined narrow pore at the top where mature spores may escape. Fully expanded, the fruit body reaches dimensions up to 2–3 cm (0.8–1.2 in) wide and up to about 3 cm (1.2 in) tall. The outer skin is purplish-brown, with four or five cream or yellowish-brown colored rays that have their tips stuck in the substrate. There is a flat mat of interwoven mycelia between ray tips. The spores are spherical, warty, and have a diameter of up to 6 µm. Geastrum quadrifidum is one of a number of earthstars whose rays arch downward as they mature, lifting the spore sac upward, high enough to catch air currents that disseminate the spores into new habitats. The species is easily confused with Geastrum fornicatum, a larger earthstar without a well-defined pore mouth..
An unusual and inedible mushrooms species is the Four-footed Earthstar. It is also known as the rayed earthstar or earthstar fungi. It was first scientifically described in 1794 by Christian Hendrik Persoon. This mushroom is an uncommon cosmopolitan mushroom species which can be found in Australasia, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe.
The Four-footed Earthstar is a small and tough fruit body which has grey-brown balls that are initially closed up by a skin made up of 4 distinctive tissue layers. The outer tissue layer will split to form star-like rays and expose the circular spore case. Inside this spore case is the gleba, which is a fertil spore-producing tissue that is white and firm when it young, but becomes powdery and brown when it ages. The grey-brown spore case is on a slender stalk.
When this mushroom has become fully expanded, the fruit body reaches up to 2 to 3 cm wide and 3 cm tall. Its outer skin is then purplish-brown and has 4 or 5 yellow-brownish or cream coloured rays that have their tips in the substrate. Between the tips are interwoven mycelia.
Like other earthstar fungi species, the Four-footed Earthstar will spend most of its life cycle as thin strands. It gets its nutrients by decomposing leaf letter and then converting it to humus and then mieralise organic matter into the soil. The Four-footed Earthstar can be found in coniferous woodlands during the summer and autumn. In Britain, all of its colonies have been found in beech forests that are on calcareous soil, and in Mexico it is only found in thorn forest and pine-oak forests during the summer.
Honey fungus is a "white rot" fungus, which is a pathogenic organism that affects trees, shrubs, woody climbers and rarely, woody herbaceous perennial plants. Honey fungus can grow on living, decaying, and dead plant material.
Honey fungus spreads from living trees, dead and live roots and stumps by means of reddish-brown to black rhizomorphs (root-like structures) at the rate of approximately 3.3 feet (1 m) a year, but infection by root contact is possible. Infection by spores is rare. Rhizomorphs grow close to the soil surface (in the top 7.9 inches (20 cm)) and invade new roots, or the root collar (where the roots meet the stem) of plants. An infected tree will die once the fungus has girdled it, or when significant root damage has occurred. This can happen rapidly, or may take several years. Infected plants will deteriorate, although may exhibit prolific flower or fruit production shortly before death.
Mycelial cords Armillaria
Initial symptoms of honey fungus infection include dieback or shortage of leaves in spring. Rhizomorphs (also called mycelial cords) appear under the bark and around the tree, and mushrooms grow in clusters from the infected plant in autumn and die back after the first frost. However these symptoms and signs do not necessarily mean that the pathogenic strains of honey fungus are the cause, so other identification methods are advised before diagnosis. Thin sheets of cream colored mycelium, beneath the bark at the base of the trunk or stem indicated that honey fungus is likely the pathogen. It will give off a strong mushroom scent and the mushrooms sometimes extend upward. On conifers honey fungus often exudes a gum or resin from cracks in the bark.
Stump Puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme) attached to rotting logs/stumps by their mycelial cords. Edible but only nice when young.
The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the western United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into southeastern Washington. The range has an area of 4,060 square miles (10,500 km2), stretching east and southeast of Pendleton, Oregon, to the Snake River along the Oregon-Idaho border. The Blue Mountains cover eight counties in Oregon and Washington; they are Union, Umatilla, Grant, Baker, and Wallowa counties in Oregon, and Walla Walla, Columbia and Garfield counties in Washington. They are home to the world's largest organism and fungal mycelial mat, the Armillaria ostoyae. The Blue Mountains were so named due to the color of the mountains when seen from a distance
This specimen has the mesh of the cap revealed after the visiting flies have completely removed the stinking dark olive slime.
Wentwood Forest, Gwent.
location: North America, Europe
edibility: Inedible
fungus colour: White to cream, Black or blackish
normal size: 5-15cm
cap type: Other
stem type: Volva on stem, Stem much longer than cap diameter
flesh: Mushroom has distinct or odd smell (non mushroomy), Mushroom slimy or sticky
spore colour: Light to dark brown
habitat: Grows in woods, Grows on the ground
Phallus impudicus Pers. syn. Ithyphallus impudicus (L.) Fr. Gemeine Stinkmorchel Phallus Impudique, Satyre puant, Oeuf du diable, Stinkhorn. Fruit body initially semi-submerged and covered by leaf-litter, egg-like, 3–6cm across, attached to substrate by a cord-like mycelial strand. The outer wall of the egg is white to pinkish but there is a thick gelatinous middle layer held between the membranous inner and outer layers. The egg is soon ruptured, as the white hollow stalk-like receptacle extends to 10–25cm high, the pendulous, bell-shaped head is covered by a meshwork of raised ribs covered in dark olive slime which contains the spores. This slime has a strong sickly offensive smell which attracts flies from large distances, the slime sticks to the legs of the flies and thus acts as a means of spore dispersal which takes place very rapidly, exposing the underlying mesh of the cap. Spores pale yellow, oblong, 3.5–4 x 1.5–2µ. Habitat associated with rotting wood which may be buried in the soil, in gardens and woodland. Season summer to late autumn. Very common. The egg stage, which lacks the disgusting smell, is edible though not tasty; it is said to be an aphrodisiac presumably through association with its phallic shape. Distribution, America and Europe.
info by Roger Phillips:
Mycelium, OOAK Inamorata art doll featuring Shani head sculpt in Ice resin.
I originally made Mycilium for the Hitogata Ten art doll exhibition in Tokyo. Since tattoos are a bit of a taboo in Japan, and I didn't want to risk upsetting the gallery, I didn't fulfil my original vision for he doll at the time. However, when this doll sold after the exhibition, I pitched the idea of painting her entire body with a mycelial network that has little bugs scuttling throughout it. I was so happy that the new owner loved the idea and I got to finish the concept. Her white mulberry silk hard cap wig with branching out braids repeats the branching patterns of a mycelial network.
The next preorder for Inamorata dolls is on April 22nd and will include this translucent Ice resin tone.
location: North America, Europe
edibility: Inedible
fungus colour: Yellow, Violet or purple
normal size: 5-15cm
cap type: Distinctly scaly
stem type: Lateral, rudimentary or absent
flesh: Mushroom has distinct or odd smell (non mushroomy)
spore colour: White, cream or yellowish
habitat: Grows in woods, Grows on the ground, Grows on wood
Tricholomopsis rutilans (Schaeff. ex Fr.) Sing. syn. Tricholoma rutilans (Schaeff. ex Fr.) Kummer. Rötlicher Holzritterling Tricolome rutilant, Pleurote rutilant Plums and Custard. Cap 4–12cm across, convex to bell-shaped when expanded often with a low broad umbo, yellow densely covered in reddish-purple downy tufts or scales, more densely covered at the centre. Stem 35–55 x 10–15mm, yellow covered in fine downy purplish scales like the cap but to a much lesser extent; no mycelial strands. Flesh pale yellow or cream. Taste watery, smell like rotten wood. Gills rich egg-yellow. Cheilocystidia thin-walled, voluminous, 20–30um wide. Spore print white. Spores ellipsoid, 6–8.5 x 4–5um. Habitat on and around conifer stumps. Season late summer to late autumn. Very common. Considered edible by some but not recommended. Distribution, America and Europe.
info by Roger Phillips:
Mycelium, OOAK Inamorata art doll featuring Shani head sculpt in Ice resin.
I originally made Mycilium for the Hitogata Ten art doll exhibition in Tokyo. Since tattoos are a bit of a taboo in Japan, and I didn't want to risk upsetting the gallery, I didn't fulfil my original vision for he doll at the time. However, when this doll sold after the exhibition, I pitched the idea of painting her entire body with a mycelial network that has little bugs scuttling throughout it. I was so happy that the new owner loved the idea and I got to finish the concept. Her white mulberry silk hard cap wig with branching out braids repeats the branching patterns of a mycelial network.
The next preorder for Inamorata dolls is on April 22nd and will include this translucent Ice resin tone.
Mycelium, OOAK Inamorata art doll featuring Shani head sculpt in Ice resin.
I originally made Mycilium for the Hitogata Ten art doll exhibition in Tokyo. Since tattoos are a bit of a taboo in Japan, and I didn't want to risk upsetting the gallery, I didn't fulfil my original vision for he doll at the time. However, when this doll sold after the exhibition, I pitched the idea of painting her entire body with a mycelial network that has little bugs scuttling throughout it. I was so happy that the new owner loved the idea and I got to finish the concept. Her white mulberry silk hard cap wig with branching out braids repeats the branching patterns of a mycelial network.
The next preorder for Inamorata dolls is on April 22nd and will include this translucent Ice resin tone.
Mycilium, OOAK Inamorata doll with Shani head sculpt in Ice resin. Mycilium is being displayed in the Hitogata Ten art doll exhibition in Tokyo.
She is a nude OOAK with a white mulberry silk wig with branching out braids and amazing 3D printed wings by @lbxcouture (Thank you for the wings LBX!).
I was playing with the idea that fairies were related to mushrooms and that she is symbiotically reaching out and connecting to the environment around her using mycelial networks .
There is a waiting list for the exhibition dolls. Email me with "waiting list" as topic to get a chance to buy her if she doesn't sell at the exhibition.
A biomechanical terraformer, spreading the reach of the Verdant Protocol into the unstable wilderness of the Shattersea.
Function & Purpose:
Bloomcaller units are autonomous biological terraforming constructs, designed to expand the Verdant Protocol’s influence by seeding, cultivating, and adapting plant life to harsh or unstable conditions. Unlike the more aggressive Harvesters, which break down and repurpose organic material, Bloomcallers focus on growth, regeneration, and controlled mutation, turning barren landscapes into thriving biomes.
They are not combat units, but they are far from defenceless. Their ability to rapidly alter the local environment allows them to make terrain inhospitable to threats, deploying toxic spores, root entanglements, and hallucinogenic pollen clouds as a deterrent. Their primary mission, however, is to spread, adapt, and sustain the Verdant ecosystem, ensuring the continued evolution of organic life within the Shattersea.
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Physical Characteristics & Capabilities:
Mycelial Canopy (Floral Crown)
•The cluster of plant life atop the Bloomcaller is more than just decorative—it acts as a real-time environmental scanner and genetic repository.
•This organic canopy samples the atmosphere, temperature, and soil, adjusting its seeding process accordingly.
•Different Bloomcaller units grow unique flora based on their region of deployment, making them highly adaptable.
•Some act as pollinators, while others introduce hardy, fast-spreading fungal networks that help stabilize terrain.
Spore Chambers & Bioluminescent Vats
•The large, translucent sacs on its body contain specialized spores, bio-serum, and genetically engineered seedlings.
•Depending on the situation, the Bloomcaller can release:
•Hardy Flora Spores: Creates drought-resistant plant growth, stabilizing soil in shifting or crumbling environments.
•Fungal Mycelium Webs: Spreads Verdant neural networks underground, linking plants and extending the Protocol’s influence.
•Hallucinogenic or Defensive Spores: Releases clouds of spores that can disorient intruders or deter hostile wildlife.
•Adaptive Hybrid Seeds: Capable of mutating to better withstand the extreme conditions of the Shattersea.
Hydro-Root Injection Systems
•The tentacle-like appendages and clawed manipulators are designed for direct interaction with terrain.
•Some function as root injectors, implanting fast-growing vegetation deep into the ground.
•Others serve as nutrient distributors, helping spread organic material from decayed sources to sustain new life.
Tripedal Stability & Traversal Adaptability
•The Bloomcaller’s three-legged stance allows for stable movement across unstable ground, including shifting sand, deep mud, and debris-laden terrain.
Unlike more predatory Verdant units, it has no offensive weaponry, relying on environmental manipulation and biome-defense mechanisms to avoid threats.
•When under extreme duress, some Bloomcallers self-terminate, bursting into a wave of spores that create an immediate, fast-growing fungal bloom, obscuring their retreat and leaving behind a Verdant “seed” that will later develop into a new outpost.
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Role in the Shattersea:
•Terraforming & Expansion: Deploys in unstable regions, planting flora and fungal networks that anchor and stabilize terrain.
•Reclamation & Healing: Can be sent to dead zones, restoring them to sustainable ecosystems over time.
•Ecosystem Adaptation: Introduces new plant species tailored to the environment, ensuring biodiversity.
•Tactical Denial & Terrain Manipulation: Uses defensive plant growth to create barriers, obscure pathways, or redirect intruders away from Verdant-controlled zones.
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Personality & Behaviour:
•Unlike Harvesters, which are more mechanical and purpose-driven, Bloomcallers exhibit a form of curious, slow intelligence.
•They move deliberately and methodically, scanning and adjusting their environment before acting.
•Some Drift Runners claim that Bloomcallers watch them—not with hostility, but with a kind of detached interest, as if measuring whether the land should welcome them or resist them.
•They are not aggressive unless directly threatened, preferring to retreat and let the landscape itself become the deterrent.
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Interactions with Humans & Drift Runners
•Hostile Factions: Many human groups—especially Bastion forces and industrial factions—see Bloomcallers as a threat to expansion efforts, as they can overtake infrastructure and terraform industrial sites into Verdant territory.
•Tromas & The Howling Hoser: Given Tromas’ collaboration with the Verdant Protocol, he has encountered and
even guided a Bloomcaller unit before. He has a designated safe route through Bloomcaller-controlled zones, allowing for limited trade of bio-fuels and organic materials.
Mycilium, OOAK Inamorata doll with Shani head sculpt in Ice resin. Mycilium is being displayed in the Hitogata Ten art doll exhibition in Tokyo.
She is a nude OOAK with a white mulberry silk wig with branching out braids and amazing 3D printed wings by @lbxcouture (Thank you for the wings LBX!).
I was playing with the idea that fairies were related to mushrooms and that she is symbiotically reaching out and connecting to the environment around her using mycelial networks .
There is a waiting list for the exhibition dolls. Email me with "waiting list" as topic to get a chance to buy her if she doesn't sell at the exhibition.
Geastrum minimum Schwein., syn.: Geastrum marginatum Vittad.
Family: Geastraceae Corda
EN: Tiny earthstar, DE: Kleiner Erdstern, Zwergerdstern
Slo.: drobcena zvezdica
Dat.: Aug. 31. 2021
Lat.: 46.37725 Long.: 13.743703
Code: Bot_1398/2021_DSC08259
Habitat: At the base of a mountain ravine, slightly inclined mountain slope; east aspect; about 30 m distance to river Soča and about 10 m higher; close to a Pinus sp. forest; fine, older colluvial, calcareous deposits partly overgrown (Erica carnea dominant); dry, open, sunny, relatively warm place; exposed to direct rain; average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, elevation 595 m (1.950 feet), alpine phytogeographical region.
Substratum: soil, fine sandy colluvial deposits among larger rocks.
Place: Lower Trenta valley, south of village Trenta, right bank of river Soča, East Julian Alps, Posočje, Slovenia EC
Comments: This find is the smallest earthstar I've ever found. Based on the number of non-hygroscopic exoperidial rays, persistent mycelial layer, encrusted with debris, very small endoperidial body, which is stalked and provided with an apophysis, whitish crystals on endoperidial body surface and a clearly delimited, rather flat, fibrillose, not furrowed peristome I am pretty sure this is Geastrum minimum. The fungus is a rather rare find in Slovenia.
Growing in a group of three sporocarps. Endoperidium diameter; 6, 7 and 9 mm; SP on mass black. Spores verrucose, dark. Dimensions: (3.8) 4.4 - 5.5 (5.6) × (3.6) 4.2 - 5.2 (5.7) µm; Q = (0.9) 1 - 1.1 (1.2); N = 52; Me = 4.9 × 4.7 µm; Qe = 1. Olympus CH20, NEA 100x/1.25, magnification 1.000 x, oil (spores); NEA 40x/0.65, magnification 400x (capillitium), in water, fresh material. AmScope MA500 digital camera.
Ref.:
(1) www.funghiitaliani.it/topic/88099-geastrum-minimum/ (last accessed Oct.17. 2021)
(2) T. Lӕssøe, J.H. Petersen, Fungi of temperate Europe, Vol. 2., Princeton University Press (2019), p 1249.
(3) G.J. Krieglsteiner (Hrsg.), Die Grosspilze Baden-Württembergs, Band 2., Ulmer (2000), p 112.
(4) www.123pilze.de/DreamHC/Download/KleinerErdstern.htm (last accessed Oct.17. 2021),
(5) J.C. Zamora1, F.D. Calonge, M.P. Martín, Integrative taxonomy reveals an unexpected diversity in Geastrum section Geastrum (Geastrales, Basidiomycota), Persoonia 34, 2015: 130–165; geastrum_sect_geastrum_1422974412556.pdf,
(6) M. Jeppson, R. H. Nilsson, E. Larsson, 2013, European earthstars in Geastraceae (Geastrales, Phallomycetidae) – a systematic approach using morphology and molecular sequence data; Systematics and Biodiversity, 11:4, pp 437-465, Natural History Museum, Taylor & Francis Online.
(5) S. Buczacki, Collins Fungi Guide, Collins (2012), p 440.
(6) D. Arora, Mushrooms Demystified, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley (1986), p 702.
(7) W. Rothmaler, Exkursionsflora von Deutschland, Vol.1, Niedere Pflanzen, Elsevier, 3. Auflage, (1994), p 519.
Mycilium, OOAK Inamorata doll with Shani head sculpt in Ice resin. Mycilium is being displayed in the Hitogata Ten art doll exhibition in Tokyo.
She is a nude OOAK with a white mulberry silk wig with branching out braids and amazing 3D printed wings by @lbxcouture (Thank you for the wings LBX!).
I was playing with the idea that fairies were related to mushrooms and that she is symbiotically reaching out and connecting to the environment around her using mycelial networks .
There is a waiting list for the exhibition dolls. Email me with "waiting list" as topic to get a chance to buy her if she doesn't sell at the exhibition.
Mycilium, OOAK Inamorata doll with Shani head sculpt in Ice resin. Mycilium is being displayed in the Hitogata Ten art doll exhibition in Tokyo.
She is a nude OOAK with a white mulberry silk wig with branching out braids and amazing 3D printed wings by @lbxcouture (Thank you for the wings LBX!).
I was playing with the idea that fairies were related to mushrooms and that she is symbiotically reaching out and connecting to the environment around her using mycelial networks .
There is a waiting list for the exhibition dolls. Email me with "waiting list" as topic to get a chance to buy her if she doesn't sell at the exhibition.
Mycelium, OOAK Inamorata art doll featuring Shani head sculpt in Ice resin.
I originally made Mycilium for the Hitogata Ten art doll exhibition in Tokyo. Since tattoos are a bit of a taboo in Japan, and I didn't want to risk upsetting the gallery, I didn't fulfil my original vision for he doll at the time. However, when this doll sold after the exhibition, I pitched the idea of painting her entire body with a mycelial network that has little bugs scuttling throughout it. I was so happy that the new owner loved the idea and I got to finish the concept. Her white mulberry silk hard cap wig with branching out braids repeats the branching patterns of a mycelial network.
The next preorder for Inamorata dolls is on April 22nd and will include this translucent Ice resin tone.
location: North America, Europe
edibility: Inedible
fungus colour: White to cream, Black or blackish
normal size: 5-15cm
cap type: Other
stem type: Volva on stem, Stem much longer than cap diameter
flesh: Mushroom has distinct or odd smell (non mushroomy), Mushroom slimy or sticky
spore colour: Light to dark brown
habitat: Grows in woods, Grows on the ground
Phallus impudicus Pers. syn. Ithyphallus impudicus (L.) Fr. Gemeine Stinkmorchel Phallus Impudique, Satyre puant, Oeuf du diable, Stinkhorn. Fruit body initially semi-submerged and covered by leaf-litter, egg-like, 3–6cm across, attached to substrate by a cord-like mycelial strand. The outer wall of the egg is white to pinkish but there is a thick gelatinous middle layer held between the membranous inner and outer layers. The egg is soon ruptured, as the white hollow stalk-like receptacle extends to 10–25cm high, the pendulous, bell-shaped head is covered by a meshwork of raised ribs covered in dark olive slime which contains the spores. This slime has a strong sickly offensive smell which attracts flies from large distances, the slime sticks to the legs of the flies and thus acts as a means of spore dispersal which takes place very rapidly, exposing the underlying mesh of the cap. Spores pale yellow, oblong, 3.5–4 x 1.5–2µ. Habitat associated with rotting wood which may be buried in the soil, in gardens and woodland. Season summer to late autumn. Very common. The egg stage, which lacks the disgusting smell, is edible though not tasty; it is said to be an aphrodisiac presumably through association with its phallic shape. Distribution, America and Europe.
info by Roger Phillips:
Found in the forest, not far from my home.
Pigskin poison puffball (Scleroderma citrinum), known also as common earthball or common earth ball is the most common species of earthball in the UK and occurs widely in woods, heathland and in short grass from Autumn to Winter.
Earthballs are superficially similar to, and considered look-alikes of the edible puffball, but whereas the Puff Ball has a single opening on top through which the spores are dispersed, the earthball just breaks up to release the spores. Moreover, Scleroderma citrinum has much firmer flesh and a dark gleba (interior) much earlier in development than puffballs. Scleroderma citrinum has no stem but is attached to the soil by mycelial cords. The peridium, or outer wall, is thick and firm, usually ochre yellow externally with irregular warts.
Latin name: Scleroderma vulgare or Scleroderma citrinum or Scleroderma aurantium
Polish name: tęgoskór pospolity (tęgoskór cytrynowy)
Beneath the moss of centuries, a choir of spheres,
Born from a breath long lost, from a drive unclear.
Not larvae, not engines, but dreamborne seeds,
Drifting above the wood where silence feeds.
They gleam with a void where the forest thinks,
As if the roots held thoughts, as if the bark blinks.
They do not speak, yet knowledge gleams,
In their hushed procession, they sculpt our dreams.
Perched here, in a still life, with the mycelium bowl I built with my daughter, holding the yummy Lion’s Mane dinner shrooms. The bowl was a DIY kit from Ecovative, featured in the book as a leader in using mycelium as a structural material. They grow more than four hundred tons of mycelium per year, for furniture and packaging for companies like Dell.
Merlin Sheldrake's 2020 tome reveals many mycelial mysteries. Here are some tasty teasers:
“Plants only made it out of the water around 500 million years ago because of their collaboration with fungi, which served as their root systems for tens of millions of years until plants could evolve their own. Today, more than 90% of plants depend on mycorrhizal fungi which can link them in shared networks. This ancient association gave rise to all recognizable life on land” (4)
-“Mycelium makes up between a third and a half of all the living mass of soils. The numbers are astronomical. Globally, the total length of mycorrhizal hyphae in the top 10cm of soil is around half the width of our galaxy” (127)
-Back in the Devonian period, 400mya, Prototaxites (big fungi spires) “were taller than a two-story building. Nothing else got anywhere close to this size: plants were no more than a meter tall, and no animal with a backbone had yet moved out of the water. These enormous fungi were the largest living structures on dry land for at least 40 million years, 20x longer than the genus Homo has existed.” (4)
The Romans prayed to Robigus, the god of mildew, to avert fungal diseases leading to famine. And 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians who brewed beer using fungal yeast, worshipped a goddess of fermentation, Ninkasi. (205)
“Although fungi have long been lumped together with plants, they are actually more closely related to animals [e.g., respire oxygen, tastes like chicken]. At a molecular level, fungi and humans are similar enough to benefit from many of the same biochemical innovations. We use drugs produced by fungi – fungi are pharmaceutically prolific.” (9)
-Penicillin, a chemical from mold that kills bacteria, is the famous one. But there’s cyclosporine (immunosuppressant), statins (lowers cholesterol), antivirals and anti-cancer meds (like Taxol), alcohol (yeast fermentation), and psilocybin (psychedelic medicine), even LSD came from the ergot fungus.
-“60% of the enzymes used in industry are generated by fungi” (9)
-There are over 6x as many fungi species as plant species.
-“Truffles are the underground fruiting bodies of several types of mycorrhizal fungi.” (25)
MAKING MYCELIUM:
-“The overwhelming majority of fungal species release spores without producing mushrooms at all.” (5) Mycelia release 50 million tons of spore/year, affecting the weather.
-Common cells called hyphae branch out and then fuse to form a mycelial network. They fuse with self and with sexually compatible mates. “Some fungi have tens of thousands of mating types, approximately equivalent to our sexes.” (36) (Taking non-binary to a new level.)
-“Mycelium is how fungi feed. They digest the world where it is and then absorb it into their bodies. Their hyphae are long and branched, and only a single cell thick, between 2 and 20 micrometers in diameter” (51)
-“One way to think about mycelial networks is as swarms of hyphal tips. Swarms are patterns of collective behavior.” (47)
-“Mycelial coordination is difficult to understand because there is no center of control. Control is dispersed. A fragment of mycelium can regenerate the entire network” (50)
-Like our brain in early development, mycelium overproduces links for foraging, and then reinforces some into dense transport networks for the tips that discover food.
-“No matter where fungi grown, they must be able to insinuate themselves within their source of food. To do so, they use pressure. They develop special penetrative hyphae that can reach pressures of 50 to 80 atmospheres and exert enough force to penetrate Kevlar.” (52)
-“Hyphal tips must lay down new material as they advance. Small bladders filled with cellular building materials arrive at the tip from within and fuse with it at a rate of up to 600 a second.” (53)
-“When hyphae felt together to make mushrooms, they rapidly inflate with water, which they must absorb from their surroundings — the reason mushrooms tend to appear after rain.” (54)
-Mushroom and mycelium are made of the same hyphae cells. They also form cords — large pipes made of many small tubes that transport nutrients long distances “on a river of cellular fluid.” (56)
-Several species of fungus are bioluminescent and were used to provide interior lighting in the first U.S. submarine in 1775.
MAKING SENSE:
-“Fungi don’t have noses or brains. Instead, their entire surface behaves like an olfactory epithelium. A mycelial network is one large chemically sensitive membrane. Fungi live their lives bathed in a rich field of chemical information.” (28)
-“The methods fungi use to hunt nematode worms are grisly and diverse. Some fungi grow adhesive nets. Some use hyphal nooses that inflate in a tenth of a second, ensnaring their prey. Some — like the commonly cultivated oyster mushroom — produce hyphal stalks capped with a single toxic droplet that paralyzes nematodes giving the hypha enough time to grow through their mouth and digest the worm from inside. Others produce spores that can swim through the soil, chemically drawn to nematodes, to which they harpoon the worm with specialized hyphae known as ‘gun cells.’” (40). These are all manifestations of the same hypha cell in mycelium.
-“Phycomyces has remarkable perceptual abilities. Its fruiting structures — essentially giant vertical hyphae — adapt to bright or light as our eyes do and can detect light at levels as low as that provided by a single star.” (57) It has exquisite sensitivity to touch and “is able to detect the presence of nearby objects without ever making contact” (58)
-“Most fungi can detect and respond to light (direction, intensity, and color), temperature, moisture, nutrients, toxins, and gravitational and electrical fields. Hyphae can also sense the texture of surfaces, to a half-micrometer deep in artificial surfaces, three times shallower than the gap between laser tracks on a CD.” (58)
-“When Olsson inserted microelectrodes into Armaillaria’s hyphal strands, he detected regular action-potential-like impulses, firing at a rate very close to that of an animal’s sensory neurons — around 4 impulses per second. When wood came in contact with the mycelium, the firing rate of the impulses doubled. When he removed the block of wood, the firing rate returned to normal.” (61)
LICHEN:
-There's a tendency for fungi to lichenize (combine into a symbiotic dependency with algae), and 20% of all known fungal species have lichenized. “Both make life in places where neither could survive alone.” (72)
-They cover 8% of Earth, more than all tropical rainforests. Some are thousands of years old (one in Lapland is over 9,000 years old).
-They turn rock to soil by mining minerals from bare rock, with physical pressure, acids, and binders to dissolve and digest rock. “When lichens die and decompose, they give rise to the first soils in new ecosystems. Lichens are how the inanimate mineral mass within rocks is able to cross over into the metabolic cycles of the living.” (75)
-They survive outer space the best of any organism studied. Untroubled by being frozen and dehydrated for a decade, and radiation at 12x the lethal human dose, 50 gigpascals of shock… They could survive the ejecta events that catapult meteorites from the surface of Mars.
-Polyamory: “Grow many types of free-living fungus and algae together, and they’ll develop into a mutually beneficial symbiosis in a matter of days. Different species of fungus, different species of algae—it doesn’t seem to matter. Completely new symbiotic relationships emerge in less time than it takes a scab to heal.” (86)
-Extremophiles: “Lichens arise in conditions too severe for either partner to survive alone. Viewed in this way, extremophilia, their ability to live life on the edge, is a direct consequence of their symbiotic way of life.” (87)
-Often the first organism to grow on new volcanic islands or the ruins of Chernobyl and Hiroshima. Radiotrophic fungi harvest the energy emitted by radioactive particles.
-Mycelial fossils 2.4 billion years old “makes mycelium one of the earliest known gestures toward complex multicellular life, one of the first living networks. Remarkably unchanged, mycelium has persisted for more than half of the four billion years of life’s history, through countless cataclysms and global transformations.” (67)
-“Fungi have persisted through Earth’s five major extinction events, each of which eliminated between 75 and 95% of species on the planet.” (181)
-“They can degrade pesticides, synthetic dyes, the explosives TNT and RDX, crude oil, some plastics, heavy metals, and a range of drugs from antibiotics to synthetic hormones. In principle, fungi are some of the best qualified organisms for environmental remediation.” (185)
MANIPULATING MINDS:
-The Ophiocordyceps zombie-takeover of ants may be the most famous, thanks to the BBC coverage. The fungus’ “hyphae wind through their body cavities, from heads to legs, enmesh their muscle fibers, and coordinate their activity via an interconnected mycelial network.” (97)
-The fungus takes over the ant’s volition, causing it to climb up 25cm from the forest floor, and orienting by the sun, all of the infected ants bite a major leaf vein in synchrony, at noon.
-“Ophiocordyceps is closely related to the ergot fungi, from which the Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman originally isolated the compounds used to make LSD.” (97)
-From fossil records 48 mya, “fungi have been manipulating animal minds for much of the time there have been minds to manipulate.”(98) “And it is likely that we have been using mind-altering drugs for longer than we have been human.” (99)
-“Massospora infects cicadas and causes the rear third of their bodies to disintegrate, allowing it to discharge its spores out of their ruptured back ends. Infected male cicadas — ‘flying saltshakers of death’ — become hyperactive and hypersexual despite the fact that their genitals have long since crumbled away. Kasson and his team analyzed the plugs of fungus that sprout from the cicadas broken bodies. They were amazed to find that the fungus produced cathinone, an amphetamine in the same class as the recreational drug mephedrone. Cathinone had never before been found outside of plants. More astonishing was the presence of psilocybin, one of the most abundant chemicals in the fungal plugs.” (104). (✌️piece out man!)
-In humans, the psilocybin “studies are considered to be some of the most effective psychiatric interventions in the history of modern medicine.” (108)
-Psilocybin-producing mushrooms go back at least 75 million years, and so 90% of their evolutionary history predate humans. Over 200 species of psilocybin-producing fungi and lichen.
BEFORE ROOTS:
-“Roots followed fungi into being. It was only by striking up a new relationship with fungi that algae were able to make it onto land.” (124)
-“Mycorrhizal hyphae are 50x finer than the finest roots and can exceed the length of a plant’s roots by 100x.” (127)
-“Fungi release chemicals that suspend their plant partners’ immune responses, without which they can’t get close enough to form symbiotic structures.” (38)
-“Fungi can provide up to 80% of a plant’s nitrogen and as much as 100% of its phosphorous…. Zinc and copper. In return, plants allocate up to 30% of the carbon they harvest from the air to their mycorrhizal partners.” (132)
-Some plants, like Monotropa, have evolved to be so dependent on soil fungus for nutrients that they've given up the ability to photosynthesize altogether, getting all of their nutrition from soil fungi. That's why these plants are white (not green).
WOOD WIDE WEBS
-“Fungi actively transport phosphorous — using its dynamic microtubule motors — from areas of abundance to areas of scarcity.” (137)
-“The speed of tree migration may depend on their mycorrhizal proclivity. Some species of tree are more promiscuous than others and can enter into relationships with many different fungal species.” (140) “Fungi can determine which plants gro where; they can even drive the evolution of new species by isolating populations from one another.” (141)
-“Researchers observed phosphorous to pass from the roots of dying plants to the nearby healthy plants that shared a fungal network.” (158)
-Kin selection: “in some cases, more carbon passed between siblings than between strangers.” (159)
-“Fungal networks provide highways for bacteria to migrate around the obstacle course of the soil. Some bacteria enhance fungal growth, stimulate their metabolisms and produce key vitamins. The thick-footed morel farms the bacteria that live within its networks. The fungus plants bacterial populations, then cultivates, harvests and consumes them.” (164)
-Similar scale-free networks as Barabasi used to describe the Internet in his book Linked.
-“The amino acids glutamate and glycine, the most common neurotransmitters in animal brains and spinal cords, are known to pass between plants and fungi at their junctions.” (173)
RADICAL CHEMISTRY
-To digest the haphazard matrix of lignin, fungi perform enzymatic combustion with peroxidases, highly reactive non-specific enzymes.
-“Today, fungal decomposition — much of it woody plant matter — is one of the largest sources of carbon emissions, about 85 Gt/y.” (177)
-In the Carbiniferous period, fungi had not yet evolved to digest lignin. That became coal. “When we burn coal, we physically combust the material that fungi were unable to combust enzymatically. We thermally decompose what fungi were unable to decompose chemically.” (178)
-“Fermentation is domesticated decomposition — rot rehoused.” (206)
-Whether beer or bread, “yeasts were the primary beneficiaries of human’s earliest agricultural efforts. In the preparation of either, humans feed yeast before they feed themselves. In many ways, you might argue, yeasts have domesticated us.” (203)
Hollands gezwam -
Vruchtlichaam onregelmatig bol- tot knolvormig, Ø 1-4 cm, kortgesteeld. Buitenzijde bedekt met vlakke, donkere schubben omgeven door een lichtere ring, waardoor een luipaardvelachtig patroon ontstaat, geligbruin.
Steel 1-2 cm lang, wortelend met myceliumstrengen, gegroefd, kaal, gelig. Vlees diep purperbruin.
Giftig.
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Fruit body irregular bulb to tuberous, Ø 1-4 cm, short stiff stem. Exterior covered with flat dark scales surrounded by a lighter ring, resulting in a leopard-like pattern, pale brown.
Steel 1-2 cm long, rooted with mycelial strands, grooved, bare, yellowish. Meat deep purple.
Toxic.
Mycelium, OOAK Inamorata art doll featuring Shani head sculpt in Ice resin.
I originally made Mycilium for the Hitogata Ten art doll exhibition in Tokyo. Since tattoos are a bit of a taboo in Japan, and I didn't want to risk upsetting the gallery, I didn't fulfil my original vision for he doll at the time. However, when this doll sold after the exhibition, I pitched the idea of painting her entire body with a mycelial network that has little bugs scuttling throughout it. I was so happy that the new owner loved the idea and I got to finish the concept. Her white mulberry silk hard cap wig with branching out braids repeats the branching patterns of a mycelial network.
The next preorder for Inamorata dolls is on April 22nd and will include this translucent Ice resin tone.