Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature

by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian

Named after the entomologist Joseph Alexandre Laboulbène, one of the first scientists to report their existence, the Laboulbeniales (“labouls” for short) are an obscure and enigmatic order of fungi, even to most mycologists. Measuring, on average, just a few hundred micrometers long (one thousand micrometers make up a millimeter), these microscopic yet multicellular fungi live their entire life on the surface of beetles, in symbiosis with their arthropod hosts.

In a life of ephemerality, I often yearn for constancy. It’s a quality I have found mostly in my sustained relationship with other species, in my practice of sit spot visitation, in my cultivation of the art of witnessing. To give someone or something your attention can be a sacred act.