Tis issue’s Small Wonder is Crucibulum laeve, otherwise
known as the Common Bird’s Nest. Not only is the species common, but it’s widely distributed. Te ones in the photos were in a mulch pile in eastern Massachusetts, but I’ve also found C. laeve in compost outside a cabin in the Yukon backcountry and in woody debris in San Jose, Costa Rica. To quote mycologist Bill Roody on C. laeve: “Anything with cellulose is fair game.” Bill himself once found specimens on a discarded cotton work glove in West Virginia. Te nest (peridium) itself is crucible-shaped, shaggy, and
THE COMMON
BIRD’S NEST FUNGUS Lawrence Millman Photos by Joe Warfel
W
hile a Lobster mushroom doesn’t really share the same morphology as a lobster, and a Destroying Angel doesn’t look very much like an angel, a
Bird’s Nest fungus can be easily confused with an actual bird’s nest, especially one replete with eggs. Te size of the avian responsible for the nest would make a hummingbird seem like an ostrich, however.
yellowish when fresh. Te spore-filled eggs (periodioles) are flattened, satiny, and — a major diagnostic feature — light in color. Each of them is attached to the nest by a thread of long hypha called a funiculus. Here I might mention that, while other Bird’s Nest species have a sticky mucilage around their funiculi, C. laeve does not. Instead, the eggs themselves are adhesive over their entire surface. When a raindrop punctures the thin tissue at the top of
the nest and hits an egg, off goes that egg, flying through the air. Te funiculus affixed to it will wrap around whatever it first encounters, banging the egg repeatedly against that object and releasing the spores. Occasionally, the object in question will be a windshield wiper. Te result is (according to microbiologist Elio Schaechter) “a very modern form of spore dispersal, making use of automobiles.” By winter, the eggs of C. laeve will have flown the proverbial
coop, but a few might still be in their nests. Tose remaining eggs can’t be cooked up in an omelet or made into tea to cure your disease of choice, since they’re only 1–2 mm in diameter. So you should simply gaze on them in wonder.
34 FUNGI Volume 15:1 Winter 2022
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