A strange, non-photosynthesizing flower, a tree sprout, or a fungus? At first glance, a non-specialist might not be able to tell what it is. We encounter Dendrosphaera eberhardtii only on one hill, where we first heard gibbons singing. This area is generally rich in endemics and exotic species, including this fungus — not unique, but quite rare— growing here in separate spots across the hilltop, overgrown with mixed forest.

During the period when the future fruiting body is just emerging from the soil, the fungus resembles a light-brown, dry twig. When you encounter a specimen of Dendrosphaera eberhardtii in the spore-bearing stage, it has already developed into a full "tree" with yellow or ochre fruiting bodies, on which loose, friable spores are clearly visible. The top of the fungus-tree takes on bizarre shapes: sometimes it resembles an inflorescence of yellow flowers, sometimes it resembles a naturally pruned bonsai, and sometimes it appears as a random cluster of "branches." When I saw this amazing mushroom in the forest again at the end of the year, I decided that the first series of paintings would end with its "portrait."