mushrooms in my back yard.
Thought for the day: If we valued the works of nature as much as the works and deeds of people, we would all be richer by far. Any ancient forest, polar bear or species of snake is more complex and improbable than Wi-FI, the Mona Lisa or landing a man on the moon. What price would you pay to keep such treasures? Jenny Daltry.
2 Comments
Erik – thanks for the biology lesson – and for helping me learn my new thing for the day!
Good find! Actually, though, those aren’t mushrooms or fungi at all… rather, they’re plants! Plants in the midst of blossoming their porcelain flowers, known as Indian Pipes (monotropa uniflora).
These wee and ghostly beasties lack chlorophyll, thus the mushroom look, and become… obligate parasites! They feed off of mycorrhizal fungi (fungi on tree roots) in the ground. In this way they receive second-hand nutrients from the tree (tree->fungi->plant).
..so, in that sense, you indirectly did find a sort of mushroom!
🙂