Gallery: Featured Fungi

While most of Really Weird Real World focuses on weird facts and folklore, this page is set aside for "myco-llection" of interesting (or funny) fungi - click here if fauna are more your thing!

Earthstar, pale fungus resembling a ball in the middle of a flower

Earthstars are similar to puffball mushrooms, but look as though they've been taken from one of the "Alien" movies.  This is a collared earthstar - note the "collar" forming around the center dome!

Earthstar fungus with "petals" folded back further and darker flesh

Here's the same earthstar a week or so later - you can see how the outer layer has peeled back even further, while the flesh has darkened over time.

Shortly after taking that photo, it looked like a rainstorm was sweeping in.  Even being hit by a drop of rain can trigger the earthstar, causing it to shoot jets of spores into the air.  I decided to preempt things by dribbling water on it using a teaspoon.

This is a zoomed in version, with a slowed down replay afterwards!

Delicate white fungus surrounded by red and yellow leaves

These delicate looking fungi popped up from a rotting stump in the garden. Combined with the colorful decaying leaves, it looked as though it had been put together rather than grown...

Patch of the same fungus illuminated by a flash
Here's the same cluster taken from a different angle in darker conditions!

Tiny brown-gray mushrooms blending in with a gravel driveway
I almost missed this colony of mushrooms - they blended in really well with the gravel of a driveway.

Large white mushrooms forming a wide ring around an even bigger central one
These mushrooms are forming a large ring or "fairy circle."  In folklore, these were said to be the result of fairies (or other supernatural creatures) dancing... and entering one invited disaster!

Common earthball, lemon-yellow fungus with a ball-like shape
The first time I saw these I thought that someone had dropped a bunch of apples, oranges or even potatoes....  

Common earthball that has broken open, revealing dark spores inside
Closer inspection revealed that they were fungi... they seem to be examples of the common earthball.  These toxic fungi break open to release their spores!

Patch of coral fungi
I noticed these strange little guys impersonating a coral reef by the side of the street...

Coral fungus that looks a little like a cauliflower floret
But they turned out to be a coral fungus!

Thanks for checking out this gallery - if you're interested in this kind of topic, you might like...