This Freaky Species Of Fungus Is Called “Dead Man’s Fingers”, And It’s Easy To Understand Why

There’s a Facebook group called Mushroomcore, and it has nearly 30,000 members who share all kinds of cool photos and stories of fungi. However, some species continue to surprise even the biggest nature lovers. Like the Dead Man’s Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha).

In June, Regan Daniels from North Carolina uploaded a few pictures to the group of what looked to be a body part of a corpse saying, “Saw this Dead Man’s Fingers (or toes in this case) fungus that I literally thought was a Halloween decoration!” Her snaps instantly went viral, and a few people even said they were fake. But Daniels reassured people they weren’t.

Image credits: Regan Daniels

“I found the mushroom in Western North Carolina in the United States at a park that I frequent,” she told Bored Panda, explaining that it’s a nice place, even though it’s kind of busy. “The walk is nice [and] it’s next to the French Broad River so there’s a lot of good scenery.”

The fungus Daniels discovered was growing from a stump surrounded by others like it and other various fungi types. And no wonder it remained intact, even in a popular destination. If I saw something like this, I would sprint the other way and call the police.