Omphalotus nidiformis, or ghost fungus, is a bioluminescent gilled mushroom that occurs primarily in southern Australia and Tasmania, and has been reported from India. The cream-coloured fan- or funnel-shaped caps, up to 30 cm (12 in) across, have shades of orange, brown, purple, or bluish-black. The white or cream gills run down the length of the stalk, which is up to 8 cm (3 in) long and tapers in thickness to the base. The fungus is both saprotrophic and parasitic, and its fruit bodies are generally found growing in overlapping clusters on a wide variety of dead or dying trees. First described scientifically in 1844, O. nidiformis (from Latin for 'nest-shaped') was known by several names before Orson K. Miller Jr. assigned its current name in 1994. Similar in appearance to the common edible oyster mushrooms, O. nidiformis is poisonous, with compounds called illudins that can produce severe cramps and vomiting.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omphalotus_nidiformis

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1805:

Lewis and Clark Expedition: Meriwether Lewis became the first white American to sight the Great Falls (Black Eagle Falls pictured) of the Missouri River. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Falls_%28Missouri_River%29

1944:

Second World War: At the Battle of Villers-Bocage, German tank commander Michael Wittmann destroyed around 30 Allied vehicles in less than 15 minutes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Wittmann

1970:

"The Long and Winding Road" became the Beatles' twentieth and final number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_and_Winding_Road

2019:

Two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman amidst heightened tensions between Iran and the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2019_Gulf_of_Oman_incident

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

nitrox: 1. (metallurgy) An industrial process for case hardening (imparting greater surface hardness to) metal objects, involving nitrocarburizing (the diffusion of carbon and nitrogen into the metal) followed by oxidation. 2. (underwater diving) A mixture of nitrogen and oxygen, the nitrogen content being lower than what is normally present in air, which is used in place of air as a breathing gas. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nitrox

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

A powerful class by terror, rhetoric, and organised sentimentality, may drive their people to war but the day draws near when they cannot keep them there.   --The Autobiography of William Butler Yeats https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Autobiography_of_William_Butler_Yeats