Please envision the setting. It’s Halloween, and you decide to take a daring walk through a cemetery on the edge of town.
As the sounds of trick-or-treaters fade away, a dense fog creeps in and envelops the tombstones. It already has the vibe of a scene from Scooby-Doo, but things are about to escalate.
You trip and tumble, landing face-first in the debris, where you come across a decaying hand protruding from the ground. The digits are contorted. Long, gnarled nails. You attempt to scream, but the sound gets stuck in your throat.
Where is Velma Dinkley when you require her? Then you take another look and realize it’s not a hand after all. It’s a dead person’s finger (Xylaria polymorpha). It may appear to be on the end of a deceased person’s arm, but it’s actually a fungus.
A brief introduction to fungi: Fungi cannot consume food like animals or produce food like plants or algae. Instead, they secrete enzymes that break down nearby organic matter, releasing nutrients that they can absorb.
Unfortunately, despite its zombie-like appearance, this fungus decomposes dead wood, not bodies. It emerges from the decaying roots of hardwood trees like beech and oak. Hence the first part of its Latin name “Xylaria” which means “grows on trees.”
The second part of the Latin name, ‘polymorpha,’ means “various shapes” and reflects the fact that this fungus changes its appearance over time. When it sprouts in the spring, it forms clusters of three to six pale to dark gray “fingers,” each with a pale “claw” at the top.
However, when mature in winter, each finger can reach up to 10 cm (4 in) tall and be dark brown to blue-black in color. This has led to descriptions likening it to a decaying finger, burnt wood, or a mummified penis. Fungi spread by producing spores as they cannot move, and in this case, the fingers act as the fruiting bodies.
Like many fungi, X. polymorpha has two modes of reproduction: asexual and sexual. Asexual reproduction results in genetically identical copies of the fungus. It occurs in spring when the fungus releases spores called conidia from its surface.
On the other hand, sexual reproduction involves the release of ascospores through an upper opening. When ascospores from different parents fuse, a new genetically distinct fungus is produced.
Despite its odd and somewhat grotesque appearance, this fungus provides a food source for various invertebrates that feed on its nutrient-rich remains.
But refrain from trying to consume it yourself. A 2018 study found that this eerie-looking fungus contains toxins similar to those found in deadly mushrooms like the death cap. Consume it, and you might end up in the graveyard!
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Source: www.sciencefocus.com
