The Joe Stick

Day 355: Roughly two years ago, my botany partner Joe posted a photo of a turquoise-blue fungus which he'd found in the watershed where he works. I was almost at a loss for words. Chlorociboria had been on my Bucket List for years, and I figured I'd never observe it in real life. I said as much to Joe, and a few weeks later, he brought me a stick which seemed to have a slight aqua tinge on one side. I grilled him extensively about the microecology in which he'd found it, and determined that if I was going to talk it into fruiting (a possibility I considered rather remote), the best place would be nestled in under hostas and ferns in a north-side flower bed. I wasn't holding my breath, but when cooler weather settled in during late September 2020, I kept checking on it every few days to see if anything had developed. In early October, I detected the first sign of blue. The fungus developed nicely over the next few weeks and then disappeared. Now the burning question was whether or not it would fruit again in 2021. Here you see the evidence: a healthy population of Chlorociboria aeruginascens on the Joe Stick, demonstrating a colour which is not often found in nature.