Theme
9:39pm September 21, 2014
fatchance: Earthstar mushroom (Astraeus hygrometricus), on the Lower Oldham Trail in the Coconino National Forest, Arizona. This mushroom has an ectomycorrhizal association with the ponderosa pines it grows near, extracting nutrients from soil that benefit the trees, and obtaining carbohydrates from the pines’ roots to support its own growth. The mushroom is also a food source for Abert’s squirrels, which aid in distributing the mushrooms at the base of the pines in which they live, in a lovely and complicated web of mutual interaction.

fatchance:

Earthstar mushroom (Astraeus hygrometricus), on the Lower Oldham Trail in the Coconino National Forest, Arizona.

This mushroom has an ectomycorrhizal association with the ponderosa pines it grows near, extracting nutrients from soil that benefit the trees, and obtaining carbohydrates from the pines’ roots to support its own growth. The mushroom is also a food source for Abert’s squirrels, which aid in distributing the mushrooms at the base of the pines in which they live, in a lovely and complicated web of mutual interaction.

8:24pm July 24, 2014

fruityplant:

nomnomnom! hungry banana slug devouring a leaf.