posted on Aug, 22 2011 @ 11:37 PM
In Maryland, I've been watching with growing astonishment and dismay at an outbreak of fungus in my yard and now, apparently my neighborhood and the
adjacent one the likes of which I'd never seen in my forty plus years. I've seen fruiting bodies of fungus that look like spiny sea urchins. I've
seen all shapes and colors and sizes of mushrooms. I have been staying in the past few weeks to avoid the heat and mosquitoes but finally ventured
out for a walk around town with my dog and I was shocked to see the triffids have indeed taken over. In the past we would get mushrooms growing in a
damp shady spot in my yard. That was normal. They were cute little white round things. The ones I have seen today were huge, about eight inches
across, on average, and light golden brown and shaped vaguely disc shaped but they came in a variety of shapes. What got me was the fact they were
growing in fairly dry places next to sidewalks and out in the bright sunlight. I always thought fungus didn't do well in sunlight, in general. I've
had trouble with fungus inside the house, too. I've had to go above and beyond my normal diligent cleaning routine and keep a lookout for outbreaks
of mold in places I'd never had to deal with it before, like plastic surfaces with no apparent moisture or nutrient source and good air flow. So
this news about the orange fungus does not surprise me. I read the thread about trees shedding their leaves early or losing leaves to some kind of
blight and I would not be surprised to hear someday that fungus is causing that, too. I've seen all kinds of strange fungus on tree trunks the past
few years.