Photographs and text by Darlyne A. Murawski

Fungi just won't decide. It creates just as much as it destroys. It nurtures life and destroys it. It is the cure to the disease it causes, and, whether it is blackening bathroom tiles or fermenting grapes into wine, it is loved just as much as hated.

Considered neither plant nor animal, fungi ranges in size from a microscopic speck to a species that is known to spread over 30 acres. Although "the earth can harbor as many as 1.5 million fungus species," only a fraction have been described. Murawski's photographs detail some of those with never before seen color and texture.

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