Flower or fungus? Personal motives of a pragmatic opportunist (4 photos)

If someone looks, walks and quacks like a duck, then it is not necessarily a duck.





Imagine that a terrible fungus has appeared in nature, which, in order to reproduce, needs to subjugate a human individual and take over the reproductive system. It looks like an idea for a horror movie, but in nature there is a light version of such relationships.



Xiris

We are talking about the relationship between the common common flower xiris (Xyris surinamensis, Xyris setigera) and a mushroom called fusarium (Fusarium xyrophilum). The latter is a relatively new phenomenon in science. And the ingenious mushroom was discovered only in 2019.

Its effect was accidentally discovered by Kenneth Verdak, who noticed xiris flowers in a park in Guyana, which were slightly different from their neighbors: slightly darker, denser and more porous. The researcher took samples for study and came to the conclusion that this was the action of the fungus.



D - healthy flower, the rest are affected by the fungus

Once infected, the impostor flower produces a pseudo-sprout with petal-like structures. Which in reality is no longer a sprout, but a mushroom. Moreover, the fake is so skillful that it is similar to the original not only externally, but also chemically: the same pigments, the same volatile compounds to attract pollinators.

Insects, not seeing or feeling the difference, land on the fake for nectar. But they don’t find it and move to the next flower. Already well covered with mushroom spores. Actually, this is what Fusarium was trying to achieve. After all, in order to continue its life cycle, the fungus needs to continue its victorious infecting march. And insects unwittingly help him with this.

Fusarium can be compared to an omnipresent hacker who benefits exclusively for himself, quietly using others as a means to an end. Neither the xiris nor the bees receive any benefits from Fusarium. And perhaps they are not even aware of his presence. And even if they suspect, they can’t do anything.



Slight difference, but it's there

Infected specimens of Xiris suriname naturally lose their reproductive abilities. In fact, the fungus voluntarily and forcibly sterilizes them. But there is also a plus for the population as a whole: false flowers bloom longer compared to regular ones. And, accordingly, they attract more pollinating insects.

If this feature of the mushroom was established only in 2019, then it cannot be ruled out that the insidious representatives of a special kingdom have already developed a secret program even more sophisticated in their cunning. It is possible that by capturing already warm-blooded animals.