This rainy August weather has yielded a fabulously fungal forest floor. Kami, our Nature Club Coordinator found this tiny fungus (Crucibulum laeve) earlier this week. You'd be forgiven for thinking it a bird's nest.

In fact, it's common name is Bird's Nest Fungus. But those “eggs” are tiny capsules called peridioles filled with spores. A falling raindrop splashes the peridioles through the air. Once they land on nearby vegetation they may release their spores in the air or be accidentally eaten by grazing herbivores who can transport the spores via their stomachs  to a new place. Another totally appropriate name for this type of fungus is “splash cups”.

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