Pieter van Heerden photo.


R


esembling miniature nests filled with eggs, bird’s nest fungi (BNF) are described as the oddest,


cutest, prettiest, most intriguing, and charismatic of mushrooms. Accolades like these make BNF one of the most sought-after mushrooms by mycophiles, amateur and professional alike. According to Canadian mycologist


Harold Brodie (1907–1989), BNF are often found serendipitously and in the strangest of places (Brodie, 1975). But today’s increased use of wood in compost and mulch provide ideal substrates making these thimble- sized mushrooms more abundant and widespread and likely easier to find. Hopefully, this article will help readers


who are eager to locate and cross these Fifth Kingdom curiosities off a bucket list of must-find species.


Early Opinions


and Classification Early studies of BNF are “vague” and


confusing (Lloyd, 1906). Tey were first mentioned in Rariorum plantarum historia by Flemish botanist Carolus Clusius (1601) who described them as seed-bearing fungi, a notion that sparked controversy among period naturalists. While some naturalists supported Clusius’ notion, others argued that since only true plants produce seeds, BNF should be removed from Fungi altogether. Tis taxonomic state of confusion lasted until egg planting experiments over the decades that followed failed to produce nests. Carolus Linnaeus settled the


Figure 1. A cluster of Cyathus striatus showing different stages of development from young nests with lids intact, to egg-filled adult nests, to nests empty of their eggs. Renée Lebeuf photo.


8 FUNGI Volume 19:2 Summer 2026


disagreement in 1753 when he correctly placed BNF with Fungi (White, 1902). Although Linnaeus showed more interest in flowers and animals than in mushrooms, he managed to name some BNF but mistakenly assigned them to Peziza, a genus of ascomycetes well known for their cup-shaped ascocarps. Te first “correct” BNF genus was


erected by Irish botanist Patrick Browne


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