This image shows several pollen grains resting on the stigma of a mallow flower. The larger grains are from the mallow, the smaller – from an aster flower. The larger grains are germinating – releasing their pollen tubes carrying male gametes down to the ovules contained at the base of the flower. The process of fertilization was unlikely to have had occurred in this case – the thin, segmented strands wrapping around the pollen grains and branching inside of them are the hyphae of a filamentous parasitic fungus, possibly from the genus Cladosporium or Alternaria. Mallow pollen reaches up to 150 micrometers in diameter; daisy pollen is about 20 micrometers.

I was reading the New York Times this morning and found an article that described Nikon’s Small World video and photography competitions, which have just closed for 2026. The photography competition has been occurring for fifty years. However, the Times article focused on the newer video completion. Both contests are fascinating. I chose just one photo to highlight the quality of all this work. This picture placed eighth last year. It ably illustrates the titanic struggles occurring all the time in this lilliputian world right under our nose.

I just love the phrase “filamentous fungus”. Doesn’t it just make your skin crawl?