Multi-acre fungi

An AP item describes an single Honey Mushroom fungus (Armillaria ostoyae) covering 86 acres in the Engadine national park in the Swiss Alps. It is estimated to be around 1,000 years old.

A larger fungus of the same species covers 2,200 acres in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon. It's estimated to be 2,400 years old. Another Armillaria ostoyae near Mount Adams in Washington state covers 1,500 acres.

Armillaria bulbosa is found in Michigan with individuals covering 10 acres or more.

Armillaria sp. can kill off it's host trees if they are otherwise stressed; it's also known as Armillaria root disease or Shoestring Rot.

PotW

The new picture of the week is up :)

26 Sep 2004 Colma, California is a true necropolis - a city of the dead. Over one and a half million people are interred in its many cemeteries. One of the monuments in Cypress Lawn Cemetery is this distraught lion. This one's for Lance.

Across this family's plot (to your right) is a fierce lion, looking generally at this lion.

We're busy getting commissions finished up (and then stuff for Halloween!) so we'll be putting up shots from some of the area cemeteries for a while.