Wednesday, 26 August 2015

Creature 330: Nidulariaceae





Bird's nest fungus

Nidulariaceae is called the bird's nest fungus, because it sort of looks like a birds nest with eggs in it.

The little 'eggs' contain spores which are supposed to be eaten by animals and spread over large 
distances. They get a but of a helping hand when it rains as the cup has a special shape which projects
 the spore packets up to 1 meter away when a raindrop falls in and splashes. Sometimes tiny sticky
 threads will be attached to the spores and will wrap around bits of vegetation which it comes in contact 
with.

Bird's nest fungi - context.jpg

Distribution:
The family is cosmopolitan.

Classification:
Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Agaricales
Family: Nidulariaceae

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