Suillus pungens, commonly known as the pungent slippery Jack, is a species of fungus with a slimy convex cap up to 14 cm (5.5 in) wide. The young cap is typically whitish, later becoming grayish-olive to reddish-brown or a mottled combination of these colors. The mushroom has a dotted stem up to 7 cm (2.8 in) long and 2 cm (0.8 in) thick. On the underside of the cap is the spore-bearing tissue with angular, yellowish pores; milky droplets on the pore surface of young individuals, especially in humid environments, are a characteristic feature of this species. The mushroom is considered edible, but not highly regarded. The fungus—limited in distribution to California—fruits almost exclusively with Monterey and bishop pine, two trees with small and scattered natural ranges concentrated in the West Coast of the United States. Several studies have investigated the role of S. pungens in the coastal Californian forest ecosystem it occupies. Although the species produces more mushrooms (mostly through efficient transfer of nutrients from its host) than similar competing fungi in the same location, it is not a dominant root colonizer, and occupies only a small percentage of root tips.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suillus_pungens
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1757:
Louis XV of France survived an assassination attempt by Robert- François Damiens, who later became the last person to be executed in the country by drawing and quartering. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert-Fran%C3%A7ois_Damiens
1919:
The German Workers' Party, the forerunner to the Nazi Party, was founded by Anton Drexler. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Workers%27_Party
1968:
Alexander Dubček came to power in Czechoslovakia, beginning a period of political liberalization known as the Prague Spring that ended with a military intervention by the Warsaw Pact nations to halt reform. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Spring
1996:
Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash was assassinated by a bomb-laden cell phone, planted by Israel's Shin Bet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahya_Ayyash
2008:
Mikheil Saakashvili was decisively re-elected as President of Georgia in "the first genuinely competitive presidential election" in the history of the country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_presidential_election,_2008
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
Twelfth cake: A decorative cake distributed among friends or visitors on the festival of Twelfth Night (which is either the evening of January 5th or of January 6th, depending on interpretation). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Twelfth_cake
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
I am guiding you to seek truth from the facts of the historical conditions of our society and to identify the problems. The correct solutions will come with the correct identification of the problems. --Zulfikar Ali Bhutto https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zulfikar_Ali_Bhutto