PILOBOLUS, HAT THROWER FUNGUS

Jack Schmidling Productions, Inc.
Marengo Illinois

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Pilobolus, The Hat Thrower Fungus

Pilobolus Crystallinus
I had no idea what I was getting into when I first posted this picture with a request for help identifying it.

I received a number of responses identifying it and some rather amusing links on the subject including a poem, "Fung in the Dung" about a "shroom that goes BOOM with the spores that go ZOOM".

Turns out, it was exactly where it should have been (sheep dung), not moldy bread or fruit. I was examining a sample of our sheep feces in a routine check for stomach worms. It's life cycle is very similar to the stomach worm. The black cap (sproangium) explosively discharges it's spores over an area of several meters of pasture. The sheep ingest the spores along with grass and it passes through the ruminant stomachs and emerges with the feces.

The feces provides the nutrient substrate for the fungal mycelium to develop, produce the fruiting body with new spores to start all over again.

Here is the link to the poem: "Fung in the Dung" "Fung in the Dung"

A Google for "Pilobolus" will net more than you ever wanted to know about it.

Thanks to all who solved the "mystery" for me.

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