16 Most Bizarre Mushroom And Fungi Species In The World

With about 14,000 described mushrooms currently inhabiting dank forest floors, decaying tree trunks, and dung piles, there are bound to be some strange-looking varieties. Some depart entirely from the toadstool silhouette—the stereotypical rounded-cap-atop-a-stem set—with lengthy hairlike spines, fanning shell shapes, flower-esque pedals, and lattice designs. Others that lack uniqueness in shape are fantastic in their royal blue, indigo, and even bioluminescent colors.

Xylaria Polymorpha Mushroom (Dead Man's Finger): The Dead Man's Finger is an ascomycetous fungus (producesspores in sac-like cells called ascus), and goes through a few costume changes from spring through late fall and early winter. Individual "fingers," or club-shaped structures, are commonly found in groups of at least three to six and emerge in the spring. Initially, these fingers, or communal fruiting bodies that are also called stroma, are just a few inches long, white to dark grayish in color and the conidiaspores concentrate at the "fingertips" during this asexual reproductive stage. The conidia are blown or washed away as the mushrooms mature. (The Xylaria Polymorpha Mushroom that Mike discovered ( Image: Kennedy News/@northwalesmushrooms)