Laser scan of a section of root. Plant in blue-green; symbiotic mycorrhizal fungus in red. Out of this intimate partnership – complete with cooperation and competition – plants and mycorrhizal fungi enact a collective flourishing that underpins all recognisable life on land.

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The plant is Voyria tenella, a non-photosynthetic species which depends entirely on its fungal partners for its nutrition. The sample was collected in a lowland tropical forest in Panama.

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The scan was made using confocal laser scanning microscopy with differential staining of plant and fungal tissues.

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Video © Merlin Sheldrake