...Homemade Rainbows...


Thursday, April 30, 2009

if you don't look

Sometimes you find the most amazing things when you're not looking.

Sometimes too the most wonderful things are incredibly unattractive...and well, downright stinky.

My nose led me to the mulch in this corner of the garden and the blowflies caught my attention......I found these little lantern stinkhorns, Lysurus mokusin if I am right.
I'll be honest... they're just a bit repulsive but oh so fascinating and more than a just a bit compelling.

They grow from a small fungal egg under the ground.... a bit like a round white mushroom which increases to golf ball size and then shoots out the red fruit with the sticky stinky spore mass on the top. This attracts the flies which will then spread the spores to new locations......
It's been the season for fungus here. With our hot summer just passed and it's drought breaking rain and storms there have been strange and new mushroom hats popping up everywhere.....but I have never seen any quite like this before.......


So very awesome that nature is isn't she....even when we are not looking.

11 comments:

Stephanie said...

That is so cool!
I've never seen anything like it.

Thanks for showing something I"m likely never to see!

Madeline said...

Mushrooms and fungus are one of the coolest features of autumn! At least in my opinion. I go for long slow walks in autumn just to check out the miniature forests that pop up all over the place. Those are very neat. I don't think we have those here...not that I've seen.

Molly Betsy @ Star Cottage said...

Wow thanks for sharing. I have never heard of or seen one of those before. I will have to show my hubby he likes exploring nature.

Unknown said...

Lovely pics. These treasures are so easily overlooked for flowers or trees.

Toni said...

wow what neat fungis, Ilove fungi and mushrooms, they are so interesting each one is so unique

Lisa said...

I've heard of stinkhorn before, but have never actually seen it (or smelt it). I so agree that nature is so awesome.

Tammy said...

I've never seen anything like that before!

Nature is indeed wonderful.

Sabrina said...

The wonders of nature never cease to amaze me. I've never seen that kind of fungus in our corner of the world...but perhaps I haven't been keen enough in my searching.

Levin said...

those fungii are amazing. i've never seen anything like it at all.
l
x

Owl and Fox said...

Wow, gorgeous :) I've never seen those on our trips up to your part of the world either...will have to look harder next time :)

Amanda said...

There is something so lovely about all the methods of survival available to life on our amazing planet.