Kiranjeet Kaur (Biotechnologist)

  Dead Man’s Finger Xylaria Polymorpha: Saprobic Fungus Photo/Unsplash “ Plants and mushrooms have intelligence and they want us to take care of the environment. They want to communicate that to us in a way we can understand .”-Paul Stamets Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that include microorganisms such as yeasts, molds, and mushrooms. They can be classified into four divisions as follows: 1. Chytridiomycota (Chytrids) 2. Zygomycota (Bread molds) 3. Ascomycota (Yeasts and sac fungi) 4. Basidiomycota (Club fungi) Some fungi are capable of causing superficial, cutaneous, subcutaneous, or systemic diseases. Dead Man’s Fingers Xylaria polymorpha, Dead Man’s Fingers, is a saprobic fungus commonly found in forests on decaying wood, injured trees, stumps, and woodland areas. It resembles burned wood and is polymorphic, existing in many forms. The scientific classification of Xylaria Polymorpha is shown below- Scientific classification of Xylaria Polymorpha Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Fungi Div