♦ NOT YOUR AVERAGE SPORE STORE. BROWSE OUR SITE AND ENJOY THE WORLD OF UNIQUE ITW genetics ♦

Epiphytes: the Inside Scoop

Epiphytes: the Inside Scoop

Fungi are everywhere—they grow in the soil, in petri dishes, and if we’re not careful, on the fruit in the back of the fridge. But did you know it can grow inside plants too? Yes, really! Of course, there are fungal pathogens, which can parasitize a plant, sometimes...

read more
Shroom coffins

Shroom coffins

Wooden coffins? That trend is so dead. With a goal of making the human burial — and decomposition — process more environmentally-friendly, a company has invented the Living Cocoon, a coffin made from mushrooms that returns the deceased to the earth while enriching it....

read more
Secondary Metabolites

Secondary Metabolites

Secondary Metabolites, “MYC Piss Explained, by Seth Austin of ITW.NEWS. Mushrooms have their own metabolism, it is how they consume their substrate. Unlike plants that use photosynthesis, think of them as moving stomachs with the ability to respond to stimuli....

read more
ITW Collab – Mycoheterotrophy

ITW Collab – Mycoheterotrophy

Mycoheterotrophic ParasitismBY: @C_Y_SPAMIn school, we’re taught that plants make their own food from carbon dioxide, water, and energy from the sun thanks to a green, sun-catching pigment called chlorophyll, right? While that’s entirely true for about 99% of plants,...

read more
Fly Killer Fungi

Fly Killer Fungi

Two newly discovered fungi species have a similarly macabre mode of action: They eat flies alive while using them to drop spores on new victims.The related species, Strongwellsea tigrinae and Strongwellsea acerosa, attack the fly species Coenosia tigrina and Coenosia...

read more
ITW Collab – Orchids

ITW Collab – Orchids

Photo: Joey Santore (pogonia ophioglossoides)Orchids + FungusesBy: C_Y_SpamIf you can believe it, until about the 60’s, the scientific community considered the immense world of fungi to be a mere offshoot of the plant kingdom. Though we now know much more about the...

read more
Leave the Toads Alone

Leave the Toads Alone

Photo by Sean Barefield (@mojave_cerastes)Bufo Alvarius, “The Colorado River Toad”, is a fascinating amphibian found in Northern Mexico and the Southwest parts of the United States. According to PBS Nature Works, “It is 3-7 inches in length and is the largest native...

read more
Merry Mushmas

Merry Mushmas

Santa Claus’ origins are very hazy, some say it was Coca-Cola’s marketing push, old Greek legend, and some Norse folktales among countless other stories. The truth is that the modern-day Santa has become an amalgamation of many myths and legends, and we are diving...

read more