Birds Nest Fungus

[Bruce Williams]

Ditiola recently posted a Gallery image of a group of Fluted Bird's Nest fungi (Cyathus striatus) that showed one head with (as Nick said) an "egg custard tart" in it. I would normally include a link here but I'm not sure of the forum protocol when it comes to other member's images .

Anyway, I've seen a few colonies with eggs in the nest but never seen one like Peter's custard tart. Is it an early stage or has the nest cup filled up with something?

Very nicely detailed photo by the way.

Bruce

[Ditiola]

Hi Bruce

Thanks for you positive comments on the photo:

I have included another below:

This shows all the stages quite well. The start off brown and bristly (bottom left) then as the cup develops the brown outer layer stops developing and the whitish cup covered grows across the top of the cup often with some of the original brown hairs stuck to the top. This covering tissue teas away at maturity to reveal the open cup, I think it must just die and shrivel up as when fully mature there is no sign of it.

Peter

[Bruce Williams]

Another very nice photo Peter and thank you for the detailed explanation - very helpful.

Bruce

[Nettle Runner]

Originally Posted by Ditiola

......... I think it must just die and shrivel up as when fully mature, there is no sign of it.

Or, the moths come and eat it.

Les

[Nettle Runner]

Originally Posted by Nettle Runner

Or, the moths come and eat it.

Les

Forgot to add image.


Les

[Ditiola]

That make more sense with the photo. Perhaps they do eat it

Peter

[posie]

..Hi Bruce, Peter and Les, I do not yet know anything about fungi, but I would like to say that the photos on this thread, and the comments have aroused my interest.....Amazing pics, thankyou...Posie.

[Ditiola]

Posie

The birds nest fungi have a fascinating spore dispersal mechanism. The Illustration below is from the late Professor Ingold’s 171 book 'Fungal Spores their liberation and dispersal.

And the text is from the internet




Like other bird's nest fungi in the Nidulariaceae, species of Cyathus have their spores dispersed when water falls into the fruiting body. The fruiting body is shaped so that the kinetic energy of a fallen raindrop is redirected upward and slightly outward by the angle of the cup wall, which is consistently 70–75° with the horizontal. The action ejects the peridioles out of the so-called "splash cup", where it may break and spread the spores within, or be eaten and dispersed by animals after passing through the digestive tract. This method of spore dispersal in the Nidulariaceae was tested experimentally by George Willard Martin in 1924, and later elaborated by Arthur Henry Reginald Buller, who used Cyathus striatus as the model species to experimentally investigate the phenomenon. Buller's major conclusions about spore dispersal were later summarized by his graduate student Harold J Brodie, with whom he conducted several of these splash cup experiments:
Raindrops cause the peridioles of the Nidulariaceae to be thrown about four feet by splash action. In the genus Cyathus, as a peridiole is jerked out of its cup, the funiculus is torn and this makes possible the expansion of a mass of adhesive hyphae the hapteron which
clings to any object in the line of flight. The momentum of the peridiole causes a long cord to be pulled out of a sheath attached to the peridiole. The peridiole is checked in flight and the jerk causes the funicular cord to become wound around stems or entangled among plant hairs. Thus the peridiole becomes attached to vegetation and may be eaten subsequently by herbivorous animals.
Although it has not been shown experimentally if the spores can survive the passage through an animal's digestive tract, the regular presence of Cyathus on cow or horse manure strongly suggest that this is true. Alternatively, the hard outer casing of peridioles ejected from splash cups may simply disintegrate over time, eventually releasing the

[Bruce Williams]

Interesting pic Les - cheers!

Fascinating explanation and illustration Peter - thank you.

Bruce