“The Fungus Is Among Us”

After a three-day-rain storm to hit southern California, I found an adult (approximately 5 inches tall) specimen of a bulbous fungus in the grass in my front-yard. I determined that it belongs to genus Chlorophyllum, but to my untrained eye, determining the exact species was not all that easy. This was my first attempt ever to identify a fungus. Right away, I found that the shape of the caps of various fungi can be similar, thus making an identification difficult for a novice. 

Eventually, I decided that this large fungus is Chlorophyllum molybidtes. It is poisonous, especially if humans and dogs eat them.

Classification

Phylum-Club fungi

Class Mushroom-forming fungi

Order Gilled fungi

Family Agaricaceae

Genus Chlorophyllum

Species C. molybdites 

Genus Chlorophyllum is widespread in the world today in temperate and subtropical climates, for example, North America, Central America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia (Wikipedia, 2025). Chlorophyllum molybides is up to 12 inches in height. It has brown scales on the top of its cap and its gills (on the underside of its cap) are white, when the fungus it is young. Chlorophyllum molybides likes grassy areas ( Wernet and others, 1982, p. 537).

The geologic time record of fungi goes back to around 1.5 billion years ago, with the “higher fungi” evolving about 570 million years ago (Wikipedia, 2025). These occurrences are based on preserved fungal spores.

Figure 1. Frontal view of a cap (top) of Chlorophyllum molybdites that was living in my front yard. The ruler is in centimeters.

Figure 2. Basal view of the cap shown in Figure 1. The ruler is in centimeters.

References Consulted:

Hodgson, E. and five others. 2025. A global dataset of fossil fungi records from the Cenozoic. A downloadable pdf available for free, via nature.com------at  the following:

12:316 / https:doi.org/10.1038/s41497-025-045333-4

Wernert, S.J. and others. 1982. North American Wildlife. Reader’s Digest. Pleassntville, New York. 615 pp.

Wikipedia. 2025.

AN UNUSUAL CONICAL FLOWER

Celosia argentea, commonly known as the silver cock’s comb flower, is a tropical plant with very distinctive conical flowers with bright, bold coloration. This plant originated in Africa. The flowers of this plant are packed in narrow, pyramidal, conical, or plume-like heads. Colors can be bright red, orange, yellow, pink, light violet, or white. The plant is typically three or four feet tall, ant its flowerheads can last up to eight weeks. This flower loves shade in the mornings, but it needs sunlight early in the mornings but shade in the afternoons. 

        

Figure 1. Celosia argentea flowers. The tallest flower 

 shown here is abut 5 inches in height.

                 Figure 2. Closeup of Celosia argentea flowers; the

         tallest flower shown in this view is about 4 inches in height. 

  Classsification

Kingdom Plantae

Clades (5 of them)

Order Caryophyllales

Family Amaranthaceae

Genus Celosia

Type Species C. argantea Linnaeus

Reference

Wikipedia, 2026

TOXIC FROGS: PART 2

This is my second blog post about toxic frogs. The first one (entitled “Poisonous Frogs”) was published March 27, 2026.

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Panamanian Golden Frog 

Please note that the usage of the term “golden frog” is common in the literature and can apply to more than one example of a toxic frog. 

The Panamanian Golden Frog (Atelopus zeteki) used to live on mountain slopes in cloud forests in west-central Panama. But now, this frog is extinct in the wild! The Panamanian Golden Frog is variable in its coloration (also its back can have variable black coloration), and the example shown here has vibrant yellow coloration with black blotches. Males of this frog are up to 4.8 cm, whereas the females are up to 6.3 cm. This species of frog lives at elevations up to 4,300 feet, in forest streams or dry streambeds. It is an insectivore. 

                                                      

                                    Figure 1. Panamanian Golden Frog. 

   Classification

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Amphibian

Order Anura

Family Bufonidae

Genus Atelopus

Type Species A. zeteki

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Smoky Jungle Frog (Leptodactylus pentadatylus). It is brownish to reddish brown, and it makes a loud screaming sound (must to be fun to hear if you are trying to go to sleep in the jungle). This frog lives in northern South America and parts of Central America (e.g., Cosat Rica to Ecuador) in lowlands below 3,900 feet elevation. It prefers tropical rain forests to substropical moist formats (including swamps and marshes). It eats small arthropods (e.g. insects), other frogs, lizards, snakes, small birds, and small mammals. In sum, they can just about eat anything they can swallow. This frog secrete a toxic lethal protein poison. Also, this frog spends much time in burrows, under logs, and in dead leaves. 

                                 Figure 2. Smoky Jungle Frog.

  Classification

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Amphibia

Ordern Anura

Family Leptodactyidae

Genus Leptodactylus

Type Species Leptodactlus pentadactylus

TWO EXAMPLES OF WOOD-PECKER BIRDS

Wood-pecker birds have a known geologic time range from the late Oligocene (about 25 million years ago) to the present, but it is possible that they originated as early as the early Eocene (about 50 million years ago). They are closely related to puffbirds and toucans. The earliest wood-pecker birds lived in the tropics of Eurasia and were most small birds that likely age insects that lived in trees.

Family Picidae (the wood-pecker birds) consists of 36 genera. Birds in this family have reinforced skulls with spongy bones (i.e., shock-absording mechanisms) that allow them to withstand constant pecking on tree bark, but not be injured). These birds also have specialized feet (zygodactyl feet) that enable to hold onto a tree without putting excessive pressure on their ankles.

  Classification

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Aves

Order Piciformes

Family Picidae

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note: no wood peckers live in Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand nor in Madagascar.

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GENUS EXAMPLE 1:

“The Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker”

Genus Sphyrapicus

Type Species: S. varius

This species lives in Canada and the northeastern USA but migrates to South America (Panama area). This species has black, white, and red plumage with a red cap and a distinctive white strip located along the length of its folded wings on both sexes. It drills neat rows into trees in order to drink sap and eat insects.

                       

                     Figure 1. The “Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker.” 

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GENUS EXAMPLE 2:

“The Acorn Woodpecker”

Genus Melanerpes

Type Species: M. formicivorus 

It lives primarily in Central America and in the western USA. The female is blue colored, whereas the male is black.

Figure 2. “The Acorn Woodpecker” Melanerpes formicicvorus

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Figure 3. Woodpecker drill holes in a California Oak tree.

 When I was checking out the oak trees at the Placerita Nature Center near Santa Clarita, southern California (see several of my previous blog posts on animals that concern this nature center), I came across some trees that have numerous, closely-spaced holes drilled into their trunks. These holes have been filled with acorns from the nearby live oaks. It is likely that these holes were drilled and then filled by “acorn woodpecker” birds. 

“LAMB’S EAR” PLANT

This unusual plant is 13 to 18 inches high and characterized by having long, soft velvety, oblong to elliptical silver leaves (the size depends on the type of cultivare = variety). Its basal leaves are in a rosette. It was a challenge for me to identify, but I finally determined that it Stachys byzantina (also known as the “lamb’s ear”). Its genus name is pronounced “STAH-kees.” The word “stachys” is Greek, meaning “ear of corn,” because its flowers grow on tall, thick spikes. The flowers are usually small (they bloom in July) and are purplish-pink to somewhat red. This plant is native to rocky hills of Armenia, Turkey, and Iran.                                                            

                                     Fig. 1. "Lamb's" ear plant.

It is a hearty perennial found in UDS Zones 4-8 but does not do well in cold winters. This plant is popular as a ground cover and thrives in full sun. It needs well-drained soil. It is drought-tolerant once established. Its fuzzy foliage deters deer and rabbits. It forms a low, spreading mat that makes an effective grown cover. It stands 12 to 18 inches in height. It is not an aggressive spreader. Some people prefer to put this plant in containers to avoid leaf rot.

 Classification

Kingdom Plantae

Clades (4 of them)

Order Lamiales

Family Lamiaceae

Genus Stachys

Type Species S. byzantina 

Reference

Wikipedia, 2026

THREE UNUSUAL BIRDS

BLACK-CROWNED HERON

This bird also goes by several other names: for example, Night Heron or Black-Capped Night Heron.

It is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world (e.g., Europe, Asia, and North America (but not in Canada).

Figure 1. Black-crowned heron. About 1 foot tall. Seen on the shoreline of Castaic Lake, north of Santa Clarita, in Southern California. This unusual heron was seen and photographed by a very observant family friend and a keen-eyed "birder."

   

Classification

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Aves

Order Pelicaniformes

Family Ardeidae

Genus Nycticorax

Type Species N. nycticorax

This is not a typical-looking heron because it is stocky with short legs. It does hunch up, however, when resting. Adults have a black crown and a black back. Otherwise, it has a gray color. Its overall body length is 23 to 26 inches. It hunches up when waiting for prey. 

This bird stands still at the water’s edge waiting to ambush its prey, namely, small fish, small clams, squid, frogs, etc.

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TERN BIRD

Larosterna inca is a seabird from from the coasts of Peru and Chile. It lives in nests in large colonies, often near sea gulls. The Inca Tern bird feeds on small fish (anchovies) and small marine invertebrates. Because of man's overfishing of anchovies, as well as habitat loss, this bird currently has a “near threatened” status.

                                               Figure 2. An Inca Tern bird.

It is a very distinctive bird with a slate-gray body and red beak and feet. It also has a prominent white “mustache." Its body is about 1.3 feet long, with a wing span of 10 to11 inches.

The Inca Tern makes a loud, crackling or a cat-like mewing but can also make catlike-mewing calls.

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THE UMPRELLABIRD

These birds are named for their distinct umbrella-like hoods on the top of their heads.

There are three species of this tropical bird. The image of the one illustrated herein (unusual it is bluish rather than black) has a rather short inflatable wattle on its neck, whereas the other species have longer wattles. Thus the specimen illustrated herein is most likely the endangered species Cephalopterus glaricollis, known from Costa Rica and Panama. The wattle is used to make loud, booming calls to attract females. 

These birds are 14 to 15 inches long and weigh less than a pound. Their wingspan is up to 28 inches. They can live for up to 16 years.

Umprellabirds birds can also be found in the Amazon. 

These birds mainly eat fruit but also eat insects and spiders, as well as small vertebrates.

Umprellabirds are secretive and solitary.  The inflatable wattle can amplify their loud booming calls. 

Classification

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Aves

Order Passeriformes

Family Cotingidae

Genus Cephalopterus (there are only three species known)

Type Species Cephalopterus ornatus

The geologic time range of umprellabirds is unknown (Wikipedia, 2026).

Figure 3. Cephalopterus glabricullis from Costa Rica and Panama. This species has a short neck-wattle. Image via Picyrl (public domain).

Reference

Wikikpedia, 2025

“BLOBFISH”

The “blobfish” is somewhat ”well known” because it is generally considered to be very ugly. Its unfortunate name is based on an natural shape of this fish.  All blobfish have two shapes: one for deep water specimens (= natural habitat) and one for specimens forced by humans to exist (for a short time) in shallow water (which is NOT the habitat of this fish---i.e., they cannot live in shallow water).

NORMAL FORM: Deep-water specimen.

Figure 1. A"blobfish" [Psychrolutes microporos] from a deep-water depth (about 2,000 to 4,000 feet), is where it normally lives in Western Australia and in New Zealand. At that depth, it looks like a typical fish because the water pressure keeps its body "contained." Blob fish are typically 6 to 12 inches long.

This fish” is not crushed at these extreme depths because the animal has adapted to live there (note: it does not have a swim bladder, and it has weak bones and water-logged tissue for pressure protection). 

In completely dark, very cold, and deep water, where this fish naturally lives, it can “hover” (float) effortlessly just above the sea floor and does not expend energy swimming around. They have a "sit-and-wait" lifestyle and do not chase their prey. They lack teeth and sharp spines. "Blobfish" also lack heavy bones and muscles. They do not chase their food; rather, they wait for crustaceans, mollusks, and sea urchins to drift by or craw by. Then, they simply suck them into their waiting jaws.Thus, this deep-water version of this fish looks like a normal fish when in its natural deep-water environment.

SHALLOW-WATER FORM: An unnatural habitat for this fish (they cannot live there for very long!).

                             

Figure 2. When placed in shallow water, this fish no longer has the immense water pressure that literally compresses it. Thus, it expands, looks grotesquely swollen, and resembles a blob. After a short time, it will perish.

Classification

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Actinopterygii (ray finned)

Order Scorpaeniformes

Family Psychroulutidae

Genus Pyschrolutes

Type Species P. marcidus

So, now you know the story about the unfortunate "common name"-designation of this normally deep-water fish.

Reference

Wikipedia, 2026