Crystal brains and witches' butter: discover the fabulous world of fungi
Mar 30, 2021
4 minutes
A host of otherworldly characters are squatting in the wood. Conventional toadstools make way for more gelatinous bodies slopping around fallen trees, dead wood and tree stumps during the coldest months of the year. Many are wood-decaying fungi – things that look like crusts, skin, slime and bits of brain that use enzymes to break down and digest wood and other dead plant material.
For the past few months I have conducted an out-of-season exploration of this strange and underrated world. The Seek app – made by iNaturalist – identifies species using artificial intelligence (AI). I identified 15 species of fungi (with the help of a fungi identification book at home)
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