"In the shadows, where sunlight fades..."

Your Friday photo…

“It was a misty day at Meher Mount when I was at Baba’s Tree. I took a peek inside the hollow trunk of the tree and saw these mushrooms growing. They inspired me to take a photograph,” said guest caretaker and photographer Juan Mendez. “I really appreciate the colors. It’s one of my favorite photos.”

Below is a poetic expression and then a scientific discussion of the symbiotic relationship between fungi and Coast Live Oaks, such as Baba’s Tree.

“In the shadows, where sunlight fades,
Beneath the canopy, in twilight glades,
Fungi weave their hidden lore,
Whispers of the forest floor.

Mushrooms sprout in clustered clumps,
Fairy rings and delicate bumps,
Caps of color, stems so slight,
A symphony in muted light.

Mycelium threads through soil so deep,
A network vast, in silent keep,
Connecting roots, a secret dance,
Of life and death in balanced chance.

On fallen logs, they find their stage,
Breaking down the wood of age,
Shelf fungi, with their layered grace,
Decomposers in a timeless race.

In damp and dark, spores take flight,
Invisible travelers, day and night,
Seeking places to call their own,
A kingdom where the strange is known.

From truffles hidden underground,
To molds where bread is sometimes found,
Yeasts that make the dough arise,
Fungi’s forms are nature’s prize.

Some bring healing, some cause woe,
Penicillin’s life-saving glow,
While others, toxic, bring a blight,
In nature’s balance, wrong and right.

Fairy-tale fungi, glowing bright,
Bioluminescent in the night,
Guiding footsteps with their gleam,
Like something from a distant dream.

A world unseen, yet ever near,
Fungi thrive, year after year,
Silent stewards of decay,
Turning death to life each day.

In the forest, in the field,
In every corner, secrets yield,
Fungi whisper, unseen, unheard,
Nature’s quiet, wondrous word.”

— Vinaya Joseph, Poet

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Fungi

A fungus can be any of the 144,000 known species of the kingdom Fungi, which includes yeasts, rusts, mildews, molds, and mushrooms.

Together with bacteria, fungi are responsible for breaking down organic matter and releasing carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorus into the soil and the atmosphere. Fungi serve as nature's primary decomposers recycling essential nutrients back into ecosystems.

Coast Live Oaks — such as Baba’s Tree — and fungi have a symbiotic relationship. The fungi are more efficient than oak roots at extracting water and nutrients from soil. They also produce protective chemicals against harmful bacteria and insects. In return, the oak provides carbohydrates to the fungi, food the fungi cannot produce itself.

Another critical function of fungi is erosion control. Fungi form connections underground from oak tree to oak tree and to other plants in the community.

As the oak tree grows, different species of fungi live with it. Also, more species live with it as it grows. On an old oak tree, there may be 250 species living in symbiosis with the oak. Also, as the season changes from winter to spring, for example, the dominant species of fungi living on the oak change.

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Sources

• “Mystical Fungi” by Vinaya Joseph on PoemHunter.com .

• “California Native Oaks and Mycorrhiza: The Growth and Ecology of California Native Oak Trees,” Las Pilitas Nursey, accessed September 18, 2025.

• “Fungus", Britannica, accessed September 18, 2025.

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