#devil's fingers

[spacedustmantis]

𓈟𓏏𓁐

cauldron hat penisman?

[csolarstorm]

Xerneas and Yveltal are Fungi: Let Me Explain...

Source: Bulbapedia, Wikipedia, Bulbapedia, Enchanted Nature

Xerneas and Yveltal are my favorite legendary designs. There's something weirdly alien about these bio-luminescent approximations of fauna, like they're trying to look like animals and failing. I've always thought they looked a little bit...fungal.

Xerneas and Yveltal are like batteries. They're life energy brokers; Xerneas distributes life, while Yveltal drains it. Supporting and draining life is one of the main characteristics of fungi. In fact, it's like their whole thing.

Some fungi have a mutualistic relationship with their hosts, where they actually benefit their health. And in general, fungi are essential to supporting the ecosystem. Then there's fungi that are simply parasitic.

Fungi can also go dormant, as well as their spores. Staying still is their thing, just chilling in dark places. Xerneas and Yveltal's dormant forms are especially weird, showing just how anomalous these creatures are.

Now allow me to lichen fauna to fungi.

Sources: Bulbapedia, New Forest Pics, Wikipedia, Mushroom Diary Blog

This is xylaria hypoxylon, also known as Stag's Horn fungus. (Not to be confused with Yellow Staghorn.) It reminds me a lot of the dormant form of Xerneas, or the "deactivated" form it takes in the PC.

Stag's Horn is also bio-luminscent, which means the tips of the fungus faintly glow - much like the tips of Xerneas's antlers.

Speaking of the first legendary Fairy Pokemon, mushrooms are often associated with fairies. Fairy Rings are circles of mushrooms that are connected by mycelium underneath. (I'll get into mycelium in just a second.) There are too many myths about Fairy Rings to get into here, so for now I'll just point out the Fairy Ring around Valerie's Gym in Laverre City.

Sources: Bulbapedia, Sussex Wildlife Trust, Enchanted Nature, UK Wildlife

I'm not sure whether Bulbapedia or Dr. King on Pokemon Amino first likened Yveltal to Devil's Fingers, but the similarities are uncanny. Like Yveltal emerges from its cocoon, Devil's Fingers emerge from what is called their "egg stage". I tried to find the least unsettling picture of this that I could. Enjoy...?

I mean, what kind of bird turns into a cocoon, anyway? Honestly though, fungus isn't supposed to hatch from an egg either, so this is all mixed up.

Okay, so Xerneas and Yveltal are based on different aspects of Yggdrasil. But if you were going to design Pokemon based on Yggdrasil, the World Tree that connects the universe, wouldn't you base it on fungi rather than an actual tree? Mycelium can actually partner with the roots of plants and other fungus to create a widespread beneficial mycorrhizal network, a truly interconnected ecosystem of organisms.

Source: BBC News - How Trees Secretly Talk to Each Other

And that's why Xerneas and Yveltal are fungi. Or it could be part of their inspiration, at least. They're not necessarily inspired by these specific fungi, but I think the concept may be part of their design. Either way, Gen VI is especially fun to research!

Reviewed by @fluffybunnybadass.

Check out my posts about Pokemon Legends: Z-A:

Poll: What Does the Λ in Legends Z-A Symbolize?

Pokemon Legends Z-A: What Is the Λ?

Is Z-A Just Zygarde-A? (%1000 Zygarde and the Fragments of the Tree of Life)

Aaah, it's an A! Is the A in Z-A the Tree of Life?

How much longer am I going to have to wait for a freakin' Unova remake?!

[calochortus]

Love is...An Alien Fungus that smells of Corpses... by Will Atkins Via Flickr: This Devil's Fingers Fungus (Clathrus archeri) seems to be trying to communicate a message of peace and love...

[dansnaturepictures]

Fungi time

As autumn intensifies whole woods, logs, lawns and heaths come alive with enchanting colour, eccentric fruiting bodies of fungal wonders.

The fairytale toadstool, ruby and white-spotted fly agarics spring up, pizza like as they unfurl. Enigmatic pure purple amethyst deceivers and otherworldly devil’s fingers sights to behold; as are mysterious shaggy ink caps that emerge in the grass and warm coloured shaggy scalycaps that huddle around tree bases. Yellow stagshorn, club-like tuning fork and candlesnuff fungi rise into the air. The mighty parasols, complex panthercaps, puffball, earthball and false death caps bring beautiful patterns. It's satisfying to observe bleeding fairy helmets, waxcaps, the meandering patterns of turkey tail; earthstars and eyelash fungi other treasured prizes of captivating fungi watching walks.

[project-spark]

What if the Blood Tundra had its own variant of Aquarion?

[thebashfulbotanist]

This Wednesday it's time for "weeds" of the fungal variety - that is, some mushrooms growing where they don't belong! These very bizarre mushrooms are Clathrus archeri, commonly known as devil's fingers or octopus stinkhorn. They're often redder in color than these, which were somewhat washed out by rain. Like all stinkhorns, they smell terrible, in this case like rotting flesh. They like growing on rotting wood and love woodchips and mulch.

But why is devil's fingers a "weed" in this case? Because although C. archeri is native to southern Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, these were found growing in London! It's though that they were introduced to England during or slightly before the First World War. Although their preference for dead wood might make them seem innocuous (and indeed there are far worse invasives) they still compete with native stinkhorns and other fungi that would probably prefer not to be fighting over woodchips!

The edibility of devil's fingers isn't known, but it's unlikely anyone would want to try them anyway. Their rotting flesh smell is enough to make anyone feel ill. They're definitely in the "do not eat" category!

[balthazarslostlibrary]

Devil's Fingers, Octopus Stinkhorn, Clathrus archeri (also, trypophobia cw)

Aotearoa, photo credit to me

This is Clathrus archeri, also known as the Octopus stinkhorn, or the Devil's Fingers. As with other stinkhorns, the spores are held within a sticky and foul-smelling substance called the gleba, which attracts flies, which then brings the spores elsewhere. This can be seen in the photos as the dark brown or black substance on the fingers.

Each fruiting body is about 8-15 cm long (hand for comparison in middle photo), and several may emerge bunched together, or separately. The fingers are very light and surprisingly fragile, and have the texture of wet styrofoam packaging pellets.

The fruiting body emerges from an egg-like growth, called the volva, the remnants of which can be seen at the base of the fingers. The last photo shows the immature fruiting body (or the primordium) soon to emerge from the volva. When mature, the fingers will swell with water from rain to many times their initial size and unfurl out of the ground.

[saucylobster]

Despite their overall small stature, Mildevil are aggressive pokemon, ripping at flesh with their horrifically barbed tentacles. Each squirms with a mind of its own, writhing and twitching constantly until prey is detected. These tentacles emit a foul odour that lures in certain carrion craving species, ready to be torn apart. Akumold are bold pokemon that pursue prey when they aren't being observed but stand still and staring right back as soon as they turn to face it. Fear is watching your predator standing dead still, getting closer and closer each time you turn around until eventually you feel the sting of its barbed tentacles rip into your flesh. --Attack Info-- --Ability Info--