Mother Earth can genuinely surprise us in a variety of ways, as evidenced by these massive bats and these angry-looking’snakes’ discovered lurking in trees.

Regan Daniels, a North Carolina resident, published a series of photographs of something resembling a deceased person’s toes on the Facebook group Mushroomcore, and the images spread like wildfire.

And when you look closer at the pictures, it’s easy to see why.

Not a Halloween decoration, nor the remains of a previous crime scene.

When Regan Daniels was out walking in Western North Carolina in June 2020, she came across something that brought her to a halt. She pulled up her camera and photographed the strange sight she found, adding the images to a Facebook group called Mushroomcore.

The group’s 30,000 members are used to seeing breathtaking photographs and astonishing details from the forest, but Regan’s photograph stuck out among the rest. So, what did she come across?

Well, Regan had photographed a fungus known as Dead Man’s Fingers (Xylaria polymorpha). With its swollen, blackened “fingers” stretching towards the sky, the Dead Man’s Fingers aptly earn their name as they eerily resemble someone buried beneath the forest floor, making a desperate final attempt to break free.

“Saw this Dead Man’s Fingers (or toes in this case) fungus that I literally thought was a Halloween decoration!,” Regan wrote in her post.

The appearance is stunning and distinct, although this fungus is rather widespread and can be seen all year. These mushrooms are widely distributed in Britain, Ireland, continental Europe, and several regions of North America. As a result, if you look closely, you may notice swollen, warty ‘fingers’.

If you want to discover them, look on stumps or buried deadwood of broadleaved trees, especially beech. The fungus only invades dead or dying wood – that’s why Dead Man’s Fingers are often seen poking up through moss and rotten leaves.

According to First-Nature, the fungus is not commonly considered edible.

Regan Daniels came across the macabre-looking clusters of Xylaria polymorpha in a park she frequents in North Carolina.

They were emerging from a stump, surrounded by a cluster of similar mushrooms. Some quickly labeled the photographs as false, claiming they were simply too strange. However, the mushrooms are really genuine, and there are countless intriguing images of them available online.

“I found the mushroom in Western North Carolina in the United States at a park that I frequent,” Regan told Bored Panda and added, “The walk is nice [and] it’s next to the French Broad River so there’s a lot of good scenery.”

The examples that Reagan found looked very intact – even though she was walking on a pretty popular location. However, it might not be surprising since few people may dare to pick it, possibly perceiving it as toxic or potentially harmful.