Last Friday, I walked across campus from Andersen Library to the Bell Museum of Natural History in order to research the animal habitat groups that are featured in the museum’s stunning dioramas. As I stood in front of a display of the mounted raccoon in the entry to the exhibit hall, I overheard a group walking down the stairs into the exhibit from behind me. The group had just finished looking at a display about fungus in the museum lobby, which provided the occasion for a comical visitor interaction…

Man to group, “What do they call a female fungi?“

Group, collectively, “What?“

Man, “A fungirl!“

Here are some images of fungus (whether fungi or fungirl I know not) from the Department of Botany archival collection, circa 1900:

– Lycoperdon gemmatum (Calvatia utriformis), September 1900, Lake Calhoun

– Daldinia concentrica, October 1900, Zumbra Heights, Carver County


– Lycoperdon pyriforme, October 1900, Lake Calhoun


– Hydnum coralloides (Hericium coralloides), October 1900, Lake Minnetonka