Technically Terrible Yet Terribly Fascinating ~ Animal Or Vegetable

[JBW]

Each one of these whatevers are about three millimeters long. Are they animal or vegetable?

[Shadowman]

Hi Brian,

Were these photographed as seen or arranged by you? The positioning is a bit static, however the 3/4 view of the middle item does give a bit more detail.

[xpatUSA]

I'll guess at 'animal' Brian.

I am reminded somewhat of what Texans call "bag-worms", moth larvae that build a small residence out of tiny evergreen needles and only come out to devour the rest, eventually killing the tree.

http://www.spectracide.com/problems/...s/bagworm.aspx
.

[Geoff F]

Are they firmly attached to the 'ground' or just lying there? If loose, I would suggest seed pods; but if attached, by threads of some form, then probably pupae casings.

[JBW]

Hi Brian,

Were these photographed as seen or arranged by you? The positioning is a bit static, however the 3/4 view of the middle item does give a bit more detail.

what you see is how they were. They are on our dogs grave so I didn't want to mess around.

[JBW]

I'll guess at 'animal' Brian.

I am reminded somewhat of what Texans call "bag-worms", moth larvae that build a small residence out of tiny evergreen needles and only come out to devour the rest, eventually killing the tree.

http://www.spectracide.com/problems/...s/bagworm.aspx
.

We have bag worms but these are soft and gooey

[JBW]

Are they firmly attached to the 'ground' or just lying there? If loose, I would suggest seed pods; but if attached, by threads of some form, then probably pupae casings.

I would have needed tweezers to attempt moving them and undoubtedly would have harmed them in the process.

However the image shows both fibers and a gelatin mass possibly attaching them to the rock.

[JBW]

Just fed the birds and fish plus checked out the unknowns. After a night of rain they haven't moved so they appear to be attached.

[JohnRostron]

I like to think that I could make an informed guess about most natural objects, but these have me stumped! My first thought was Poppy seed heads but these are way too small. Seedheads would not have those lobes at the base.

John

[JBW]

I like to think that I could make an informed guess about most natural objects, but these have me stumped! My first thought was Poppy seed heads but these are way too small. Seedheads would not have those lobes at the base.

John

I took more shots yesterday and whatever they are they are definitely attached to the stone and are growing.

[Cantab]

I took more shots yesterday and whatever they are they are definitely attached to the stone and are growing.

Curiouser and curiouser -- to quote from Alice in Wonderland.

[JBW]

Curiouser and curiouser -- to quote from Alice in Wonderland.

and curiouser yet with the new shot:

[RandyRFJP]

I believe the image might depict an association between a fungus and the root system of a vascular plant. Note that the apical portion of the image looks like the "cap" of a mushroom (i.e., fungus), and the protrusions on the basal portions look like plant roots. Those protrusions might be a fungal sheath encasing fine roots from the plant. The image shows what looks like one of the non-encased, fine plant roots very well. The large swollen portion between the "cap" and "roots" might be a "storage site" for absorbed nutrients, minerals, etc. The association between a fungus and plant is called a mycorrhiza.

See: http://archive.bio.ed.ac.uk/jdeacon/...corhiz.htm#top

[JBW]

I believe the image might depict an association between a fungus and the root system of a vascular plant. Note that the apical portion of the image looks like the "cap" of a mushroom (i.e., fungus), and the protrusions on the basal portions look like plant roots. Those protrusions might be a fungal sheath encasing fine roots from the plant. The image shows what looks like one of the non-encased, fine plant roots very well. The large swollen portion between the "cap" and "roots" might be a "storage site" for absorbed nutrients, minerals, etc. The association between a fungus and plant is called a mycorrhiza.

See: http://archive.bio.ed.ac.uk/jdeacon/...corhiz.htm#top

If i understood the link this would be a mushroom like fungi mating with a plant? How interesting.

[RandyRFJP]

Hi Brian. They are not mating. It's an "association" between a fungus and a plant. An association can benefit both species (called mutualism), benefit one species while the other is harmed (called parasitism), or benefit one species while the other is neither benefited nor harmed (called commensalism). In this instance I think the fungus & plant association would be either commensalistic or mutualistic.