Veiled Oyster

Fungi > Agarics

The Veiled Oyster (Pleurotus dryinus) is a distinctive, robust wood-decay agaric found throughout temperate broadleaf forests across the Northern Hemisphere. While closely related to the ubiquitous commercial pearl oyster mushroom, Pleurotus dryinus stands apart...

Giant Granadilla

Plants > Vines

The Giant Granadilla (Passiflora quadrangularis), also known as badea or barbadine, is the reigning heavyweight giant of the passionflower family (Passifloraceae). Native to the steamy lowland rainforests of the Neotropics, this aggressive, massive woody liana...

Sapphire Tower

Plants > Bromeliads

The Sapphire Tower (Puya alpestris) is one of the most visually mesmerizing and botanically unusual flowering plants in the Americas. Native to the arid, rugged Andean mountainsides of central Chile, this giant terrestrial bromeliad spends up to two decades...

Borneo Eared Frog

Amphibians > Frogs & Toads

The Borneo Eared Frog (Polypedates otilophus), also known as the file-eared tree frog, is one of the most visually extraordinary and charismatic anurans of Southeast Asia’s Sundaland biodiversity hotspot. Famous for the serrated, bony ridges that flare...

Laced Stinkhorn

Fungi > Stinkhorns

The Laced Stinkhorn (Clathrus crispus) is a visually arresting, geometric saprotrophic fungus native to the warm subtropical zones of the Americas and the Caribbean basin. Emerging from a subterranean gelatinous egg, it inflates into an intricate hollow spherical...