The fluted birds nest grow in small colonies and matured specimens usually reach 1.5cm tall and 1cm wide. It is often found growing on damp and rotting softwoods like bark fragments and mulch on the forest floor.

The fungi has a small cup-shaped peridium, which houses a cluster of lens-shaped structures, like a clutch of eggs. These egg-like pods are attached to the base of the cone via a cord-like funiculus and they contain the spores that activate when rain falls. The conical peridium acts as a splash cup so that when rain is directed into the pods, the right velocity of force ejects them into the air where it can disperse.

The force of the ejection rips open the ‘eggs’ and unwinds the compressed, adhesive cord which can then catch on nearby twigs and woody debris where it can tether around, latch on and spore again. Alternatively, many of the forest dwellers such as wild horses and ponies will eat them, distributing the spores via their dung. 

When young, they start as enclosed balls with a lid, called an epiphragm, which peels away during maturity to expose the ‘eggs’ ready to disperse during next rainfall. You might also notice on a casual glance that the conical ‘nests’ are typically covered with an outer woolly mane of brown, grey or buff prickly matter while inside, they have vertical striations not unlike the surface of a shiny seashell.

Nature enthusiasts stand a good chance of finding the fluted bird’s nest fungi in open woodland such as that found at Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s  Hook Common and Bartley Heath or Chappetts Copse Nature Reserves.

From bird’s nests and turkeytails, to devil’s fingers and angel’s wings, the extraordinary variety of fungi is a triumph of nature.

Written by: Nick Holden, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust Volunteer