Flowers of Decay
What is a flower? There is, as you would guess, a very specific scientific definition. Specifically, we think of the colorful parts of plants that produce seeds. (See our stories on the Tulips of Keuykenhof.) And we refer to other objects, especially people, metaphorically as flowers or as flowering. But what about the structures of whole classes of life forms that grow and release reproductive “seed”? The reproductive organs of life forms that grow on dead organic material can be just as beautiful and even more mysterious. You might call them mushrooms. But we think they should be called flowers.
We hope you enjoy a brief saunter through some images of fungal fruiting bodies we have made that we find quite interesting, and even, flowering with beauty. Here are some flowers of decay.