Scarlet Caterpillar Club

Today I was lucky enough to find the infrequently recorded Scarlet Caterpillar Club (Cordyceps militaris) on the Ashdown Forest. Perhaps its not much to look at but its one of my favourite finds because of its extraordinary life cycle- it grows on the underground pupae of moths. In 7th century China this gave rise to the notion that animals could change into plants (when fungi were considered to be plants)..