Wow, almost one year passed after the latest post!

As I assume the past months were full of interesting and new discoveries for you, I consider the grey days of November the right timepoint to re-activate this group - to bring some sparks of joy into going out and finding new stuff even during the upcoming dark, cold and bug-and-flower-deprived winter time.

But it's not winter yet, it's autumn - and that means, prior to snowflakes there are leaves falling!

And one very special tree species is joining this golden rain. The Ginkgo.

It is such an amazing organism in so many ways, and here I will not go into paleontolgy, its unique systematic placement, its conservation status and natural distribution or its cultural significance.

No, I want to point to specific aspects, that, despite its many fascinating features, the Ginkgo is actually a rather unimportant target for us 'biodiversity seekers'.

For once, despite it being extensively planted throughout Europe and being very resistant to extreme temperatures and pollution, and its production of stinky 'fruits', it is actually very difficult to find seedlings, so as to make a 'wild' observation - even finding young Platanus trees is easier.
And secondly, this tree is probably unparalleled in its lack of attractiveness for any sorts of herbivores, arthropod parasites or fungal pathogens - there are next to none!

However, just one day ago I learned something new: There is in fact one species of fungus associated with this tree - and it is neither a parasite, nor a symbiote: Because it develops on the already fallen leaves, where it is easy to spot on the golden background.

That fungus only develops on Ginkgo leaves, so it is strictly depending on a single species.

But there is more: Not only is the Ginkgo a 'living fossil', being the only species of the only genus, of the only family, of the only order of the class (Ginkgoopsida) - so is the fungus! Being the only species in the only genus ... ... of the class (Barteletiomycetes).

Now that's some co-occurring uniqueness!

And what's great: it should be very easy to find - actually the first tree I checked had several spotted leaves, so the biggest challenge for you should be to find out where the next Gingko stands 🙂

So, here is the prize: Bartheletia paradoxa - and almost no one had picked it up so far.

Looking forward to see some more red dots showing up on the map of Germany soon!
Good luck!