Is it alive? - Red Thread, a highly unusual fungus.

I found this while walking along a beach in Victoria, BC.  I thought it was fishing line.

There are some things that you see and don't believe, it can't possibly be.  That was my reaction when it came to finding a filamentous mass growing on beach vegetation near Victoria, BC.  And not just one group, there were a couple of them near each other.  I have seen green filamentous algae both in the lab and in the wild, but nothing terrestrial and certainly nothing red in colour.  To say that I was flummoxed by my discovery would be an understatement.

A search on the internet led me to uncover some of the secrets of this conjuration.  Red thread, its scientific name is Laetisaria fuciformis, is a foliar (relating to leaves) in nature, leaving the stems, roots, and woody parts of plants alone.  It tends to attach grasses that lack adequate nitrogen, fescue being a prime target.  It is more commonly seen in the spring and fall.  

The body of threads is the mycelium of the fungus, each thread being a hypha (hyphae plural).  The fungus does not kill grass as a rule but does weaken it and render it susceptible to disease.  Its main concern is the appearance of infected regions.  It reproduces mainly asexually through spore production but may also produce spores sexually.

The fungus is found world-wide but mainly in temperate regions with cool, wet weather.  It seems Victoria is very well suited.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com