-
Fungal Functions
Written by Brianna Santamaria From supporting plant growth to breaking down waste, fungi perform a large variety of important functions in our environment. We would need an entire library to discuss all the roles fungi play in the world around us. However, we are limited in time (and space on this website), so in line…
-
Forever Fungi
Forever in humanity As stated in our previous post, fungi have been present within our civilizations for as long as we can find solid proof for it. Which is currently about 18,000 years ago. In 2015 dental records of human remains from that period of time showed fungal spores. This means that they were at…
-
Fungilicious
Written by Brianna Santamaria Important note: Do not consume any mushroom that cannot be readily identified Of Mushrooms and People Mushrooms: delectable treasures or deadly tragedies? Divine remedies or destructive rogues? Symbols of opulence or a mark of poverty? Since the beginning of civilization cultures have grappled with their perception of these inscrutable organisms. In…
-
Mushrooms and Toadstool, must be Fall
If you had not noticed, summer is over and it is getting colder and wetter. To paraphrase Julius Caesar: guttula iacta est. Or to put it in plain English: the droplet has been thrown. We can no longer go back and will have to see this fallthrough. So, to help you through this perilous time,…
-
Yawning
An involuntary reflex that can be interpreted as rude in some cultures, as a sign of tiredness and boredom in others or as a signal of anxiety in non-human creatures. Everyone knows what yawning is, but what is yawning really? These are the questions keeping me up at night. Probably the reason I yawn a…
-
Slow worm
Anguis fragilis, Hazelworm, Blindschleiche, Orvet, Lucion Intro An animal that is neither a worm, nor a snake, yet is called one and often confused with the other. Why is it neither a worm, nor a snake? Because it is a lizard. Unlike worms, it has a spine, and unlike snakes, it has eyelids. This beautiful…
-
Flowers
Probably the prettiest genitalia in the world. Flowers are often beautiful and colorful collections of leaves organized in a circular way. Sometimes in a more rectangular shape and in rare occasions they don’t even look like flowers (think about the flowers of hazelnut trees, which look more like hanging ropes, or green phalluses. To be…
-
Fly Agaric
Amanita muscaria, Vliegenzwam, Amanite tue-mouches (fausse oronge), Fliegenpilz, matamoscas (falsa oronja) Intro The fly agaric, the mushroom carrying the responsibility to be the face of fungi. The most commonly depicted mushroom when asked what a fungus looks like. Fortunately, fungi don’t care who’s the most popular or prettiest among them, because we all know this…
-
Symbiosis
A word everyone knows, yet no-one fully understands. Intro Life is hard. Very hard. So all living creatures form partnerships to make life a little easier. Some good for both, some good for one and bad for the other. So to weather the storm we call life, it is important to find the right partner.…