Thu 13 May 2010
Ooze
Posted by anaglyph under Bizarre, Creepy, Ephemera, Ooky, Photography, Plants, Science
[26] Comments
Some years ago a tree in our backyard was cut down, and the stump cleared. Now, all through the year we have this weird fungus that keeps on growing up where the roots were. Violet Towne likes to ruthlessly lay into it with the mattock, but despite her best efforts, a little bit of rain and up it comes again.
It’s really quite an unsettling organism. It has a kind of a dead fleshy texture and colour… If you look very closely, it’s sort of brain-like. And recently it’s started to ooze something that looks awfully like blood…
If anyone actually knows what’s going on here, I’d love some more information. What is the red stuff? It seems very slightly oily… not particularly sticky. It washes off in the rain and you can quite clearly see little pits where it was – so it’s something that the fungus has evolved to do. It doesn’t seem to attract insects and I can’t for the life of me think of what it might be for (other than to conjure images to disturb my sleep).
the fungus you show is called Bleeding Tooth Fungus (Hydnellum peckii).
It isn’t poisonous but it is so bitter to make it inedible.
Hydnellum peckii is a mycorrhizal fungus.
It establishes a mutualistic relationship with the roots of certain trees, in which the fungus exchange minerals and amino acids extracted from the soil for fixed carbon from the host.
Wow …
Looks like a sci fi script to me.
Vince: Welcome to The Cow – and thank you so much! That’s just fantastic. Now that it’s got an identity, I think I’m going to get attached to the little monster. Dang. That’s what happens when you go giving things a name.
Do you happen to know the purpose of the red ‘blood’ ooze, by any chance?
Those rock, I hope I get some of those from my recent tree removal
Rather than die from it, dye with it!
ooo, beautiful and scary and gross all at the same time. Is it the same stuff in The Spawn’s eyes?
Hey, my avatar is back! yay!!
I nominate Malach to taste the shrooms. And anything else that looks sketchy.
Can’t tell you what the ooze is, but there are many fungi with oozes of various descriptions.
These, whose ooze starts clear then turns yellow, came up in our back garden in Sydney:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesrose/114469952/in/photostream/
as did this one, which oozes incredibly sticky stuff:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesrose/110392187/in/set-72157600107888129/
Queen Willy: It’s entirely possible that the Spawn gets his eye colour from the same place – HELL! (And yes – you gain an avatar and lose the ability to correct your posts – which wasn’t working properly anyway).
Atlas: I think we’d have to hold him back.
JR: The oozing looks quite purposeful – as I said, the fungus has little pits where the ooze seeps out. I’m speculating that it might be a waste product, perhaps, but it does seem a weird thing – maybe that’s how it gets rid of excess moisture or something. Wikipedia tells me that the substance has anticoagulant properties.
I’m guessing that different fungi have different uses for their oozes, whether autodigestive, or to attract beasties to carry away spores, or defensive, or ’cause it looks cool and/or disturbing…
I think it looks really beautiful in the top photo
You can see the shape of the tree trunk – it looks like it’s growing around the outside…
Just tell people that you see the face of jesus/mary/god etc in the arrangement of the fungi and that the red ooze is jesus’s/mary’s/god’s blood. Charge 20 bucks to come view the holy image, 35 bucks for holy water containing a drop of the ‘holy blood’ and then ask for donations to the holy shrine you’re gonna build and TAADAA!! money problems solved, you will be a rich man!!
If you have any kind of a conscience, I suppose this might not be such a good idea.
Cheers!!
PS the pictures are gorgeous!!!!
Conscience, Timothy? When it comes to making money? Where-ever did you get that idea? Geez – your idea smacks of such genius that I’m joining up with Steorn, ShooTag and Jasmuheen to get my share of the sucker dollar! It’s only fair! God sent that fungus to ME!
I’m envious. We too have a recurrent efflorescence of fungus from the rotting roots of the former tree, but ours are pretty standard-looking toadstool types. You may recall the photographs of the slug snacking on them. Your oozing foamy thing is much more exciting.
Um… geeze, don’t you have a grandma or other wise old person nearby to warn you about this stuff?
It’s growing in a circle. Well, two circles. Back in the day, we called these things “Faerie circles”.
And it’s oozing blood.
And now, just like the idiots in horror movies, you’re getting curious. Next thing you know, you’ll be standing with one foot in each circle at midnight, and that’s when you’ll discover that the circles are actually GATEWAYS TO HELL.
But your realisation will be shortlived as your right leg gets whisked off to Limbo, the first circle of hell, to baffle Aristotle, Euclid and other pagans, while your left leg gets sent to Dis where starving heretics will rend your flesh.
So, yeah. I recommend fungicide and exorcism.
Oooooo. Am I unhinged for actually thinking this might be worth trying? It’d have to be a full moon, too, right, or even better, a Blood Moon!
If I go silent all of a sudden, you’ll know where I am.
I have no clue what phenomena that is but the pictures you took are incredible! That looks really weird but still beautiful.
Why thank you Jeff! I noticed you inadvertently linked your website to a vendor of trash products! I fixed it for you, and the JREF thanks you for your commitment and support!
Interesting post and nice pics! Notwithstanding the “Bleeding Tooth Fungus” macabre appearance, this is a fascinating member of the Fungi family. Based on its appearance, you would assume it is extremely poisonous—but, not only is it non-poisonous (albeit inedible), Scientists have discovered this particular fungi contains antibiotics properties. It’s weird, but the more I look at the picutures—the more fond of them I am.
Uh-uh Tim. No spamming here. If you want to come and have a discussion, fine, but leave your litter outside in the bin.
And thanks for now being a supporter of the JREF!
I don’t get it, where did these photos come from? I’m kind of confused because my grandmom always had decorations like these displayed everywhere but none of those showed the same red blood thing coming out of them… Do you own these? There is life in this creatures?
Spuman.