Rare fungi emit smoke when they hear noise

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Rare fungi emit smoke when they " hear " noise

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/18/content_2104282.htm

www.chinaview.cn 2004-10-18 11:08:49

SHENYANG, Oct. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Four mushroom-like plants in a

crack in the wall of a storehouse in northeast China's Liaoning

Province emit white smoke in the presence of loud noises.

The mushroom-like fungi appeared suddenly in Manchu Autonomous

County of Xiuyan in Anshan City, according to the house owner,

surnamed Sun. " I didn't notice them until last week, " he said.

When Sun accidentally coughed, the biggest of the fungi -- about

20 centimeters in diameters -- let out some white smoke, he

said. " I've invited all my friends and neighbors to the house, butno

one can tell what the weird plants are or why they smoke. "

The fungi are not umbrella-shaped like most other fungi that

grow in a humid environment. Without a cap or a trunk, they stick on

the cement wall with only tiny, string-like roots.

Whenever someone talks or coughs loudly in Sun's storehouse,

even the smallest of the plants -- about three centimeters in

diameters -- emits white smoke and " cowers " toward the wall, then

turns back to normal after a minute or two.

An 80-year-old couple in Sun's neighborhood said they used to

know a fungus that smoked when broken into pieces. " But that one

looked quite different and I don't think they are the same

thing, " said the old man.

Botanists from the Liaoning University say they have never heard

of such a smoking fungus.

But Professor Liu Mingyu assumes the " smoke " is clusters of

spores. " Sound waves cause vibrations that cause the spores to fall

off the plants, " he said. " These spores will probably take root

wherever they go. " Enditem