Most colourful and amazing lifeforms in the wet tropics can be seen on the forest floor, however, they often go unnoticed. But if one keeps an eye open for the little things some truly spectacular gems can be found – and this goes for fungi in particular. They play a vital role for the life on our planet, especially in rainforest where their long thread-like hyphae invade and breakdown the tissues of dead wood and leaf litter, producing nutrients for other plants and animals.
On a strenuous hike in the pristine Danum Valley we stumbled upon this beautiful Veiled Lady or Long Net Stinkhorn (Phallus indusiatus), a fungus that can be found in tropical regions around the world. Whenever it is ready to reproduce the fruiting body is grown in an effort to attract insects for the dispersion of the spores. The veiled lady is very short-lived, yet the specimen we found was still fresh regarding the slime covered cap and the undamaged hexagon-tessellated skirt – almost a perfect piece of modern architecture.
i AM Safari 
wow – fascinating!!
It’s mesmerising isn’t it?
I love fungus, but I’ve never seen one like this. Stunning.
janet
Thank you Janet – it’s a stunning one indeed
I thought you were going to show coral!
When do you plan in branching out to underwater photography?! DOO IT!
Meanwhile I love fungus too..Well except the kind that gets in bugs and eats them out while they are still alive but leaves behind a fungal covered husk…Its pretty but gross! Imagine something like that spreading amongst mamals!
It would be the end of the world!
Lol! Glad the effect of the detailed close-up worked as I hoped it wouldn’t be obvious. Could have been coral though – not sure about branching out – I’m all over the globe already and I’m not finished on the land yet 🙂
Wow, it is the most beautiful fungi I have ever seen! It is like a little piece of art. I was really wondering what it was looking at the first picture:)
Thank you Inger! I’m happy to hear the close-up structure didn’t give its identity away to quick. I agree, it is a piece of art indeed – it somehow reminded me of Beijing’s Bird’s Nest
Yes, that is a good comparison:)
Never seen any fungi like that, looks a lacy skirt.
True; the veil or Indusium in fungi-language is often referred to as skirt