Tree pollination needs male-only rot

From the region that gave us pollination by cockroaches and dung beetles, here’s another of Nature’s peculiarities: a plant that relies on a fungus as well as a pollinating insect.

In Malaysia, the pale fuzz of the Choanephora fungus attacks the male flowers dangling from the chempedak fruit tree. That fungus provides a food reward for the pollinating insects, reports a team of researchers based at Kyoto University in Japan.