A fungus on a fungus on a fungus
I’m off to the woods to find a fungus that grows on a fungus. I’m heading to Yarner Heath on the eastern edge of Dartmoor to see if I can find some Common Earthballs, Scleroderma citrinum. Here’s one:
![Pseudoboletus parasiticus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Devon-The-Hall-of-Einar-8795-725x725.jpg)
They are a common autumn fungus. They grow in profusion in leaf litter in woodlands and heaths. I’m looking for a special fungus which grows on this fungus. It’s called Pseudoboletus parasiticus.
Here’s when I found it previously:
And here it is now:
![Pseudoboletus parasiticus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Devon-The-Hall-of-Einar-8813-725x544.jpg)
Someone’s dislodged this one, so I pick it up and have a look:
![Pseudoboletus parasiticus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Devon-The-Hall-of-Einar-8801-725x580.jpg)
Further on, near the edge of Yarner Wood I find even larger ones sprouting out of the sides of two large Earthballs.
![Pseudoboletus parasiticus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Devon-The-Hall-of-Einar-8820-725x580.jpg)
There’s a complex and still mysterious relationship between the two species. Just how parasitic is the Parasitic Bolete?
Later I spot even more in Pullabrook Wood.
![Pseudoboletus parasiticus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Devon-The-Hall-of-Einar-0615-725x725.jpg)
This one has white mould growing on it.
![Pseudoboletus parasiticus - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)](https://www.thehallofeinar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Devon-The-Hall-of-Einar-8884-725x544.jpg)
There’s a fungus growing on a fungus growing on a fungus. We haven’t even begun to start understanding the complexity of the natural world.