Mycena haematopus is a species of fungus in the Mycenaceae family, of the order Agaricales. It is widespread and common in Europe and North America, and has also been collected in Japan and Venezuela. It is saprobic—meaning that it obtains nutrients by consuming decomposing organic matter—and the fruit bodies appear in small groups or clusters on the decaying logs, trunks, and stumps of deciduous trees, particularly beech. The fungus, first described scientifically in 1799, is classified in the Lactipedes section of the genus Mycena, along with other species that produce a milky or colored latex. The fruit bodies of M. haematopus have caps that are up to 4 cm (1.6 in) wide, whitish gills, and a thin, fragile reddish-brown stem with thick coarse hairs at the base. They are characterized by their reddish color, the scalloped cap edges, and the dark red latex they "bleed" when cut or broken. Both the fruit bodies and the mycelia are weakly bioluminescent. M. haematopus produces various alkaloid pigments unique to this species. The edibility of the fruit bodies is not known definitively.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1864:

Union General Ulysses S. Grant pulled his troops out of the Battle of Cold Harbor in Hanover County, Virginia, ending one of the bloodiest, most lopsided battles in the American Civil War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cold_Harbor

1889:

In one of the worst rail disasters in Europe, runaway passenger carriages collided with a following train near Armagh, present-day Northern Ireland, killing 88 people and injuring 170 others. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armagh_rail_disaster

1942:

On her thirteenth birthday, Anne Frank began keeping her diary during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank

1987:

The Cold War: During a speech at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate by the Berlin Wall , U.S. President Ronald Reagan issued a challenge to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tear_down_this_wall

1999:

In the aftermath of the bombing of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo War, the NATO-led Kosovo Force entered Kosovo with the UN-mandated responsibility of establishing a secure environment for the recently self-proclaimed, independent and partially recognized country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Force

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

luthier (n): A person who makes or repairs stringed wooden musical instruments, such as lutes, violins, and guitars http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/luthier

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

My knowledge of pain, learned with the sabre, taught me not to be afraid. And just as in dueling when you must concentrate on your enemy's cheek, so, too, in war. You cannot waste time on feinting and sidestepping. You must decide on your target and go in. --Otto Skorzeny http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Otto_Skorzeny