365 Urban Species. #294: Bird's Nest Fungus

[urbpan]

Photos by cottonmanifesto. Picked out of the broken glass and burnt rubble of a homeless persons' camp in Olmsted Park, Boston.

Urban species #294: Bird's nest fungus Crucibulum laeve

As we have seen before, mushrooms appear in amazing variety, resembling things they are not, such as ears, fingers, and now, even miniature bird's nests. The fungal body itself is invisible, threads of tissue that grow through some rich organic matter, such as leaf litter or well-rotted wood. Up from this substrate the little cups protrude, with flat discs inside, looking all the world like an insect-sized bird has laid weird eggs in thimble-sized nests. These structures are the fungus' way of reproducing itself. When rain comes, a droplet may hit the cup, sending the "egg" several feet away. A coating on this "egg" (called a "peridole" by mycologists) then decays or is grazed away by insects or other small invertebrates. Each peridole contains many spores, but many less spores are produced by bird's nest fungi than by other mushrooms. The vagaries of the wind carry other spores, wasting the vast majority of them, but the agency of rain and animals carry bird's nest fungal spores to places where they are more likely to be fruitful. It is a delightful accident of nature that this efficient spore-dispersal system should resemble the reproductive efforts of a feathered animal. Bird's nest fungi are very common, but very small and inconspicuous. Most urban people have stepped over them, but relatively few have stopped to admire them.

Comments

[pinkveneer.livejournal.com]

totally new to me! great stuff :)

[cdozo.livejournal.com]

I love all of the 365 series that I've read, but this one is my favorite so far.

Thanks for doing these posts.

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

This is so cool. The penny for scale is good.

[macabre-grrl.livejournal.com]

Cool! I will be on the lookout for them.

[xterriblelie88x.livejournal.com]

This could quite possibly be one of the cutest fungi I have ever seen.

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Whoa! And I thought that terrestrial flatworm was creepy. There are alien spores in your country man!

[bezigebij.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite fungus species, thanks.

[butsu.livejournal.com]

bonito!

[cowpewter.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I didn't realize how tiny they really were until that penny.

[beepboop.livejournal.com]

that's pretty neat! i've never seen it before.

[nmsunbear.livejournal.com]

Wow! Those are completely amazing. (And, dare I say it, adorable!) Thanks!

[turil.livejournal.com]

Great googly moogly! What a fantastic find! I want one as a pet.

Question: do mushrooms take a whole year to go through their lifecycle? I ask, because you mentioned that this time of year is the best for mushroom hunting...

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I would guess (note choice of word) that mushrooms take longer than a whole year to go through their life cycle. The life cycle consists of a spore being released, and landing on a suitable substrate, a hypha (single cell-wide thread) being formed, and that hypha then encountering another hypha that is sexually compatible. The new structure (the two hyphae having come together, and combining their dna) is a mycelium. The mycelium then can produce mushrooms, if conditions (temperature, humidity) are favorable.

This time of year is the best for mushroom hunting because (I suppose) that the mycelium has had time to grow (it can't grow if frozen), and it is wet and warm enough for mushrooms to form.

Different fungal species, of course, will have greatly varying life cycle times.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! I'm glad you like them.

[aemiis-zoo.livejournal.com]

Wow! Those are the coolest fungi ever! =D

[ankhanu.livejournal.com]

All I can say is wow... those are neat :)

Very interesting method of spore dispersal indeed. I wonder if the reduced spore count is offset somewhat by the catapaulting method of dispersal??

[miz-geek.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm so glad you finally saw it/them! They're still growing on the mulch under the dogwood trees outside my office. Very cute. Here are some pictures.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

OMG just look how cute they are!! :D

[psongster.livejournal.com]

I love these, though I didn't have a name for them before, so it was especially fun to read about them. They show up all over my garden, sometimes just growing out of the soil. I guess I have rich soil! :-)

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, these are neat and fascinating little things that I don't recall ever seeing before, but one is never too old, I guess, to look more carefully.

Dwight

[(Anonymous)]

I have these ALL OVER the mulch under my maple tree and dogwood tree (which are about 50ft apart)in my back yard. I have noticed that my maple has started shedding its bark from about 1 1/2 ft above the ground down to the mulch. Is there any potential for damage to my trees from the fungi, or is their presence a sign of an already existing problem? Should I dispose of the mulch? Help!

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Bird's nest fungi grows on well-decayed wood; it doesn't attack still-living trees, so yours are not in danger from it.

[(Anonymous)]

Found these this morning in Wilmington, MA. The seeds were Black though. Really cool!

[cdozo.livejournal.com]

I found some Bird's Nest Fungus by my land today! I wouldn't have known to look closer at the tiny little round things if I hadn't read this entry long ago. Instead, as a result of having read it, I got a rush of hopeful excitement when I saw the tiny little round cups. Photos on my cell phone's camera confirmed that they were the real deal.

Thanks again for all the information about nature. It really helps to make my world a lot more interesting.