More.....World Beneath Our Feet!

  While pulling up the remnants of the broccoli plants, I discovered a whole tiny world of life in the darkness beneath the leaves.  Tiny bugs scampered away from the glaring sunlight while fungi and wee plants held their ground!  Of particular interest were the Bird's Nest Fungi or Cyathus Olla.  These fungi look a lot like tiny cups that hold some sort of weird eggs hence the name.  Actually to me, they resemble tart cups filled with some tiny wafers more than a birds' nest.  The sides of the "cups" or peridia (peridium if there is only one) were fluted much like my tart pan's cups.  Plus, instead of being rounded, the "eggs" or periodoles were flattened.  The entire size of the things were less than that of a pencil eraser.  Teeny tiny!  

  I made this discovery at the most opportune time.  The little eggs were still in the cups.  Had I been a day later, the cups would have been emptied of their contents.  We had a delightfully hard rain this evening and that is just what it takes to bounce the "seeds" from their holders. The rain drops cause the periodoles to bounce free from the cups and start the whole series of life all over again.

  The discovery of the tiny fungi started me thinking of how fun it would be go searching, once again, for the miniature world that we so often overlook during our daily activities.  The photographing of the "world beneath our feet" has always fascinated me.  I am on a mission!  

The "Nest" is empty!

  I cleaned out the hotbed in anticipation of sowing the seeds for the vegetable garden.  It is that time of year when I get antsy and want to plant.  Last year, the herbs took over the hotbed and I am already seeing tiny basil, dill and lemon balm seedlings poking their leaves through the soil.  It appears that my hotbed is already seeded and I will have to find somewhere else to start my seeds.  The greenhouse construction is well underway but if I want early tomatoes and bell peppers, I need them in the pots now.  My kids have already informed me that their stash of homemade tomato sauce, ketchup and salsa has been depleted!  My plans are to have nearly fifty tomato plants if possible this summer.  That should keep me quite busy.

Bird's Nest Fungus sitting next to an empty acorn cap.

  While clearing the dead leaf matter and sticks from the hotbed, I came across a tiny funnel.  Hmmm...is this an elfin funnel?  Could the faeries have forgotten one of their tools when they were working in the herbs?  Nope, this is a type of fungus.  It is a Cyathus Olla or Bird's Nest Fungus to be precise.  Actually, this is the remains of the Bird's Nest Fungus.  If I had spied this several months ago, it would have been orange and sort of fluffy now, it is just a grey funnel.  Of course, it would have taken some doing for me to find it several months ago as the Thai Basil filled this portion of the hotbed with a mass of leaves that was nigh on impenetrable!  The fungus grew without being disturbed.  Sometime after the orange fluffy disappeared, the "eggs" filled the nest.  These are the spore cases of the fungus.  Once the "eggs" mature, raindrops or any other disturbance causes them to burst from the funnel.  Once the "eggs" are on the ground, they split open and the spores are ready to start the process anew.  All I had was the "nest".

The Bird's Nest Fungus has already lost its "eggs" or spore cases.

  I thought the tiny funnel was interesting enough to leave intact in the hotbed.  Sure I will have a number of other fungi sprouting up everywhere but they don't seem to hurt a thing.  Besides, what would the magical, little beings that live in my herb garden do without their funnels?