Artillery Fungus

Artillery fungus is a fungi that commonly grows on mulch made from wood rather than bark. It may be related to cup fungi commonly referred to as bird's nest fungi.

It is called artillery fungus because is shoots its spore mass like artillery. The problem is it points the artillery at high light mass such as a shiny car or siding on a house as it shoots. Once the spores land, they "glue" themselves to the surface and are, in many cases, impossible to clean.

Insurance companies may not pay for damage to siding or automobiles because they may consider it mold damage. A friend of mine with the artillery fungus spore problem on her aluminum siding tried everything she could think of to remove the spores. She said that the white eraser on the end of some ink pens was the only thing that effectively removed the spores.

A take home here is be careful in choosing your mulch. Select a mulch with a low wood and high bark content. Artillery fungus does not grow on bark.