13 Forest Finds Including a Cherokee Legend, a Fairy Door, and One Thing Everyone Agreed Was a Pterodactyl

Curiosities
10/10/2026
13 Forest Finds Including a Cherokee Legend, a Fairy Door, and One Thing Everyone Agreed Was a Pterodactyl

The forest floor is considerably more interesting than most people give it credit for. Something that looks like a ghost. Something that glows. Something that grows ice petals overnight and melts by morning. The people in this collection didn’t go looking for any of it — they were just walking. And they all did the same thing next: took a photo and asked the internet.
These 13 forest discovery photos and stories about nature, curiosity and the happiness of finally getting an answer show what happens when someone pays attention to what’s actually under their feet.

Found these on a walk through the forest today and thought they are beautiful! Are they mushrooms?

  • This is a plant, not a fungus, known as the “ghost pipe.” It is a parasitic, non-photosynthetic, perennial flowering plant native to North America, Latin America, and East Asia. The plant is white, though rare specimens can be a deep red. Among the Cherokee of North America, some legends mention the “pipe plant.”
    According to legend, the plant came to be called “Indian pipe” because a group of chiefs had an argument and passed a pipe from hand to hand during the dispute. A mysterious being transformed the chiefs into this plant because they were meant to share the pipe after reconciling. It is said that the plant grows where friends have had a fight.

These are ghost mushrooms, bioluminescent fungi native to Australia.

  • They grow primarily on enormous trees. At night, their light can be seen with the naked eye in the forest as a faint green glow. They are not edible.

I found this poking out of the forest duff near my home. It’s definitely not plastic.

  • This is part of a “Circle of Friends” candle holder. My wife and I brought one back from Mexico years ago. © Fanabala3 / Reddit

I came across white leaves on a maple tree in the forest. How can that be?

  • It turns out that albinism really does occur in plants! This happens because of a complete or partial lack of chlorophyll and other pigments caused by genetic mutations. Most white or pink sprouts last only a few days or weeks. They use up the nutrients stored in the seed and, once those reserves are depleted, can no longer survive because they cannot produce energy through photosynthesis.
    Some trees (such as rare California redwood specimens) and parasitic plants manage to survive into adulthood by attaching themselves to the roots of healthy neighboring plants and drawing nutrients from them.

I was hiking and kept seeing what I thought was litter. But it turns out it was ice that looked like ribbons of laminated dough. What causes this?

  • This phenomenon is called a “frost flower” and is linked to moisture released from plant tissues as it freezes. A frost flower forms when thin layers of ice are pushed out of long-stemmed plants in the fall or early winter. These delicate sheets of ice often create exquisite patterns, curling into flowerlike “petals.”
    Frost flowers form when freezing temperatures arrive while the ground is still unfrozen. Sap in the plant’s stem expands, creating long, thin cracks along the stem. Water is then drawn through these cracks by capillary action and freezes upon contact with the air. As more water is drawn through the cracks, it pushes the thin ice layers farther from the stem, forming a delicate “petal.”
    Frost flower petals are very fragile and break when touched. They usually melt or evaporate in sunlight and can generally be found early in the morning or in shaded areas.

Found in forest in Sweden, about 3 feet from ground, roughly 8 inches in size. Hard to the touch, but drips liquid when knocked. What is it?

  • It looks like a polypore fungus releasing excess moisture — a phenomenon known as guttation. Most polypores live on tree trunks or branches, breaking down wood, while some soil-dwelling species form mycorrhizal associations with trees.
    Polypores and related corticioid fungi are among the most important agents of wood decomposition, playing a major role in nutrient cycling and helping forest ecosystems absorb carbon dioxide. Several polypore species are serious pathogens of plantation trees and major causes of wood deterioration.

What is the small wooden thing at the end of the log (found in woods near London in the UK)?

  • It’s something like a fairy door — the magical folk of British folklore (Bright Side note). The Japanese make something similar for small kami (deities): tiny shrines called “hokora.” © MelonRingJones / Reddit

Strange formation found in a hollow tree stump in the forest. What kind of claws are these?

  • This is heartwood formed from the central part of the roots. Resins have accumulated in it, helping it decay more slowly. Because sapwood contains cells that transport the tree’s sap, it generally has a relatively high moisture content. As a result, it remains viable for a long time after the tree is felled.

What are these hundreds or thousands of hard, ceramic-like spherical objects found in a mountain forest?

  • These are clay pebbles for hydroponics — a porous, neutral growing medium that retains moisture, provides oxygen to the roots, and can be reused. Their porous structure allows air to reach the roots and protects them from rot. They do not retain excess water, helping prevent overwatering.

My aunt found this on a juniper in a forest.

  • These appear to be galls caused by cedar-apple rust. This is a plant pathogen. In the early stages of infection, the galls look like small bumps on the woody parts of the plant. After the first warm spring rains, they retain their orange, jelly-like form, though usually at a much smaller size.

Big brown blob on the side of the road in a forest. It’s against the base of a telephone pole, as seen in the picture, so it’s pretty big. What is it?

  • Users in the comments said that this is a foamed material that is used nowadays to secure posts in the ground. The foam was exposed to sunlight, which is why it turned brown.

What is this lying in the mulch beneath the tree?

  • These eggs are basidiospores enclosed in a thin membrane. The cup, or nest, is shaped so that when raindrops hit its walls, they roll down and push the eggs out of the cup. The eggs then land outside the cup, where animals eat them, and spores germinate from their droppings.
    In some species, the eggs are connected to the cup by a thin, sticky thread, so when they are pushed out, they swing around and wrap themselves around twigs. The fungus itself is saprotrophic, meaning it feeds on decaying wood or plant matter.

In the deep forests, pterodactyls build their nests on the ground. Seriously, does anyone know what this is?

  • You’d better leave that area. It’s not a nest, but most likely a resting spot for a wild boar. A sow carefully watches over her young. During their first week of life, piglets do not leave their shelter — a nest-like structure made of branches, leaves, and grass — and huddle closely together.
    Since wild boars are sensitive to significant temperature changes, they spend a great deal of time wallowing in mud, which not only protects them from insects and sunburn but also helps them maintain an effective body temperature.
    During the daytime in summer, wild boars rest and sleep in dug-out pits about 1 foot deep. In winter, the bottom is lined with leaves, evergreen boughs, moss, and old cloth. They sometimes create a shared den with group resting spots. These resting spots are arranged in thickets or beneath tree branches, whether for solitary animals, a litter, or the entire herd.

Most of these things existed long before anyone photographed them — they just took someone stopping, looking properly, and asking the right question: 8 Bird and Fish Eggs That Look Nothing Like What You’d Expect — Including One That Looks Exactly Like a Dragon’s

If you’ve found something in the woods that made you stop and wonder what it was, the comments are open. Bonus points if the internet helped you figure it out.

Preview photo credit van.esten / Pikabu

Comments

Get notifications
Lucky you! This thread is empty,
which means you've got dibs on the first comment.
Go for it!

Related Reads