| GEO Amazing and Interesting | | Ball shaped mushroom in Brazil | Updated at: 1257 PST, Sunday, June 13, 2010
 RIO DE JANEIRO: For the last ten years or so, I have been searching for exotic stinkhorns, or as I like to call them, the "Jesters of Kingdom Fungi." When I find a new species, color, or especially a new form, it's a special event. Such was the case with this one, Clathrus chrysomycelinus, which I found two years ago in southern Brazil.
I was nearing the end of a three-week mushroom photo tour in which I was helping a local mycologist fill out a book he was working on about mushrooms from the state of Paraná.
It was one of those grueling uphill trails in the muggy heat and I was loaded with minimal but important (and heavy) equipment to do my photography.
Many of the Clathrus species are "basket" or "Wiffle Ball" shaped, and like all stinkhorns they are brightly colored — usually orange, red, yellow, and sometimes white. I had never found a white one so when I caught a glimpse of broken eggshells near the path, it took me a while to realize what it really was.
My guide and author of the book, however, knew the species immediately and I proceeded to get it into my camera before it collapsed. That was back in my film days, so I didn't get to see this photo for weeks after finding the mushroom. |  |
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