A bizarre parasitic plant that looks like a scowling owl has won a global photography competition for the best snapshot of a plant or fungus. Nestled in dark earth, the “owl” glows with an eerie emerald World Nature Photography Awards.
photographer Chatree Lertsintanakorn took the fascinating image in a remote nature reserve in Thailand, where the flower bodies of tiny plants protrude from the ground at the base of the trees.
The plant, Thismia thaithongianais a mycoheterotrophic species, meaning this is not the case photosynthesis But derives its energy and nutrients from mushrooms – more specifically, the fungus associated with the roots of trees. In 2018, scientists discovered it in the Doi Hua Mot mountains in Thailand.
Little is known about this plant, but its peculiarly shaped body has earned it the name “Phisawong Ta Nok Hook,” which translates to “mysterious owl eye.” according to Nation Thailand.
T. thaithongiana spends most of its life underground until it bursts open to reveal its peculiar fruiting body.
Lertsintanakorn learned about the rare species when he met with photographer Suchat Chanhomhuan, one of its discoverers.
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With the help of Chanhomhuan, Lertsintanakorn located the facility at the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Tak Province, Thailand. “I noticed that it was growing mostly near the tree roots, which made it easy to miss,” Lertsintanakorn told Live Science in an email.
Its location is a prime habitat for the small parasite. In general, some species of fungi live around and in the roots of giant trees. In search of minerals, they build an underground network that they pass on to the trees. In return, trees give them nutritious sugars in an alliance known as a symbiotic relationship.
T. thaithongiana disrupts this relationship by stealing the nutrients produced by the fungi.
T. thaithongiana is only visible once its fruiting body emerges from the ground, and even then it is incredibly small. “I was surprised by the small size, measuring only 2 to 8 millimeters [0.08 to 0.3 inch] “Lertsintanakorn’s image won gold in the Plants and Fungi category at the World Nature Photography Awards. The competition, which was launched in 2020, is now taking place for the fifth time and this year over 3,000 images were submitted.
“Our winners always take our breath away with their breathtaking images. As always, it is a great pleasure to see the amazing quality of submissions to the awards,” said Adrian Dinsdale, co-founder of the World Nature Photography Awards opinion.
Other notable images in the competition include a haunting collection of olive baboons (Papio anubis) Heads and skulls at the Abomey voodoo market in Benin, an orca (Orcinus orca), splitting a ball of herring underwater, and a group of crabs clinging to the lava rock-encrusted shore under a wave of water.
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