Birdsnest Fungi (Nidulariceae)

These are very specialised for the dispersal of their spores.

Nidula candida (woolly birdsnest fungi)

They are very small cup-like structures which look like a tiny bird's nest covered by a thin skin or lid. When this lid peels back, you can see things that look like eggs, but they are actually little bundles (peridioles) of compressed spores.

These are covered with a sticky substance so that when they are splashed out by rain drops, they stick to the the suface they land on.
The furry (woolly) covering of these fungi makes it easily distinguishable. Note the covering on the left one - protecting the immature peridioles.
Crucibulum laeve - usually found on twigs in the bush.

When raindrops land in the cup these "eggs" (peridioles) are flung out with the splashes, and they attach themselves to anything they can with a whip-like tail that had been holding the egg in the cup.

For more birds nest fungi, look here.
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