Friday, December 31, 2010

Mother Nature's Artistry

This month's art is the Turkey Tail fungus (Trametes versicolor).  This is one of the most common types of fungus found in temperate zones around the world, and primarily grows on dead hardwood trees.  In North America it is found on more than 70 genera of trees.
Trametes uses enzymes to break down the cell walls of dead wood, feeding on the lignin contained therein.  The contrasting color zones are typical of this species.
Mother Nature's Artistry is a monthly feature on this blog.  Check back again next month to see what Mother Nature has been up to!

3 comments:

Meems said...

I'm always fascinated by the designs in fungii. Photographs often give us more close-up detail than our eyes. All of nature displays beauty in some way. Thanks for the good information, too.
Meems

Roslyn said...

It truly is art. Great photo.

Andrea said...

Those are beautiful Jim. I just have seen some Ganoderma sp in our property last holidays, although not many in one trunk.