The Southern Hemisphere’s collection of alternate-universe creatures is not limited to emus, echidnas, and monkey-puzzle trees. There are also crazy down-under fungi. And one of them was first encountered and collected for science by none other than the Big Man himself: Charles Darwin. Darwin was on his course-of-western-history-altering Beagle cruise when he was probably captivated [...]

Perhaps like Moselio Schaechter and me, you were surprised to hear the identity of the fungal pathogen in the New England Compounding Pharmacy fungal meningitis outbreak: Exserohilum rostratum. Unlike outbreaks caused by names we see regularly — influenza, norovirus, E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, etc. — Exserohilum is not a name that is likely to have [...]

Amanita mushrooms — like all creatures — rot, but most of them can’t rot other things. The fact that they don’t rot other things is not news to biologists, who have long known that many, if not most, fungi have become professional partners with trees, plants, or algae. The fact that they can’t rot other [...]

It’s a bit embarrassing to admit you were recently on your hands and knees excitedly filming a cow pie. But I was. And the reason was this: Here’s another one found nearby: There were five or six of these polka-dotted mounds in close proximity. Gorgeous orange cup fungi on a cow pie! I’d never heard [...]

When you read a story, you may occasionally wonder what the reporter went through to get it. About a month ago I arose at 5 a.m. to  accompany two wildlife biologists and three fisheries volunteers into the high country of Colorado in order to report a story that came out in High Country News this [...]